Tangled Skeins
by Shenlong Girl
Summary: Gabrielle has woken up in the body of her teenaged self - and Xena has woken up next to the younger Gabrielle! How did they get into this mess? And can their connection transcend time to bring them back together? Romance, Adventure, Mystery, Time Travel, and Body Swap!
1. Chapter 1: Waking Up

**Title: **Tangled Skeins

**Notes: **This story is pretty much fully drafted, but it's not all ready for prime time, as they say. Expect 1-2 chapters a week as I edit and add things. I hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter One: Waking Up**

Idly stoking the banked fire that would reheat dinner into breakfast, Xena looked over at a sleeping Gabrielle. She shook her head, but with a little fondness. Gabrielle's habitual late mornings ought to strike her as more aggravating than they did, but she knew the girl was still adjusting to the rigors of travel and sleeping rough. It took her awhile to fall asleep on the hard ground, and she needed a lot of it to help build up her strength and endurance.

Plus, the stubborn thing insisted on walking next to Xena's horse all the time.

At least her exhaustion gave Xena extra quiet time in the morning. The girl's incessant questions and stories didn't annoy her as much as she would have expected, but she still savored the peace of dawn - the birds, the dew, and the calisthenics she performed to help wake her own old bones. Not that she was really old. Was probably in her prime fighting condition, once she shook off any aches. But she still felt like an old warhorse if there ever was one.

Ah, the blonde head was stirring. Gabrielle went from lying bonelessly on her back, to an apparently luxurious stretch, to sitting up and looking at her. Endearing, sleepy blinking drew a half smile from Xena.

"Mornin'."

"G'morning." Gabrielle yawned and peered through the trees at the sun's position. "Yikes, is it that late? Thanks for letting me sleep; I must have needed it."

Xena raised an eyebrow at that, seeing as it wasn't later than usual, but she stood without commenting on it. "If you want to get dressed and roll up your bedding, I'll tack up Argo, and then we can eat and get a move on." She tapped the now-heating stew pot with a stick.

"Oooh, breakfast, too?" Grinning, Gabrielle got up, walked straight over in her sleeping shift, and hugged Xena. Very closely, heedless of her armor, and with her face pressed right up against Xena's neck.

A second of discomfiture preceded Xena returning the embrace.

Gabrielle pulled back to peer up at her. "Are you all right?" Her hands rested familiarly on Xena's flanks.

Xena figured the least awkward thing was to keep her own hands on Gabrielle's shoulders. "Me? I'm always all right." She tried for a rakish grin and received a sweet smile in return.

"Har de har, Warrior Princess. But thanks for spoiling me anyway." Casual as could be, Gabrielle leaned up and kissed Xena right on the lips, soundly, but so fast Xena almost thought she imagined it. Especially after Gabrielle turned away without a word or any sign at all that something unusual had just happened.

But as Xena stood there, blinking, her lips tingled, and a lick revealed a faint, new flavor. "Wh-" She belatedly realized her hands still hung at her traveling companion's shoulder level and dropped them. "What?"

In a distracted tone, Gabrielle spoke as she rolled up her bedding, "What what?"

"Are _you _all right?" Xena boggled. What had gotten into this kid? Sure, she liked to chase cute boys on the road, but she hadn't gotten so jaded on it that a kiss on the mouth meant nothing to her. At least, Xena was pretty sure. Was this a strange Potidaean thing? Did she kiss her sister like that? They were getting closer, sure, but…

"I feel all right. I know I slept late, Xena, but I don't think I'm getting sick."

Xena shifted her weight and crossed her arms. She hated to start a personal chat first thing in the morning, or ever, but she couldn't have this. Couldn't have Gabrielle kissing her like that when what it meant to Xena - what it felt like to her - was far from sisterly. It wouldn't be right.

"Look," she started, not unkindly, "I know we've only been traveling together a few moons now, but there's something I ought to tell you." I like women, sexually, and you're too cute for me to handle with any calm if you're going to kiss me. Dammit, how should she say it? She hesitated.

Meanwhile, Gabrielle's head shot up from her task. "A few moons?" She stood, whirled in place so fast her hair obscured her face a moment, and then froze.

She picked up the end of one long, golden lock and seemed to gawk at it. "What is this?"

"That's… your hair."

"But why is it long? I was only asleep one night, right? Not a year again?"

Awkwardness fled in the face of alarm. "...Gabrielle, I think something's wrong with you. C'mere, and I'll look you over. Do you feel dizzy?" Did they eat something they shouldn't have last night? Xena hoped whatever this was would fade on its own. And wasn't some god's trick. Ares could mess with her all she liked, but he had no claim on her innocent companion.

Totally ignoring Xena's request, Gabrielle dropped her hair and ran her hands over her arms and body. She squeezed a bit of belly and blinked, then hurriedly pulled the shoulder of her shift aside and spent a long moment looking at the totally normal, unblemished skin there. Her expression grew thoughtful, and she turned it on Xena.

"I was afraid you'd lost your memories, but I think this is something else." Despite how crazy her words sounded, her manner struck Xena as unusually serious.

"It's something all right. What're you looking for, anyway? Do you feel like you have bugs on your skin?" Maybe this was just a hallucination that would be over in a few hours?

"No, I have skin that's years younger than I'm supposed to be. Xena, I'm closer in age to you than me right now."

"Huh?"

"The mind you're talking to belongs to a future me. Don't ask me how, but I'm in my teenaged body, back when I first started traveling with you."

Xena's mind slowly grasped at the logic. "Future you? As in you have memories of the next few years already?"

Gabrielle did a pleased little jump. "Yes! You got it."

"Impossible." Even in dealing personally with the gods, she'd never heard of such a thing.

The fledgling bard frowned. "Well, I don't see another explanation. But I guess you won't believe me unless I prove it to you."

"You got it," Xena parroted.

Gabrielle sighed. "Shouldn't be too hard." She ranged around the clearing, then began to pace. "Of course there's nothing like a staff around here. It's a shame. This me could barely throw a straight punch, so a skill demonstration would do it… If this body could handle it."

Xena arched an eyebrow. "What, do you want to spar with me?"

A sharp exhalation and a small smile accompanied Gabrielle's, "No, not really." She tapped her foot. "Let's try facts I know that young me wouldn't know. Okay?"

"Sure." This was weird enough anyway, why not?

"You have a… No, let's not go there. You were a Valkyrie once. And you've... been to Chin. You also know how to find Ambrosia, the food of the gods, even though you'd never search it out to become a god yourself. These days, anyway." Her expression turned wistful. "Your mother Cyrene makes the best meat pies this side of Thebes, you turn into a total little kid when you get into a prank war, and you don't know it yet, but dressing up in costumes for elaborate plans is going to be a passion of yours."

For the second time that morning, Xena found herself stunned beyond coherence. "You… All that- where'd you learn all that?"

Gabrielle snorted. "Not all at once. I usually only learn about your past when it tries to kill us, or else you suddenly go haring off after it." Oh, gods, that did sound like her.

"You know about all that stuff, and you still travel with me?" That was at least as unbelievable as traveling into her own past body.

"Yep."

Xena's mind snagged on a thought. "Gabrielle... why did you kiss me?"

"Because I love you." She delivered the words as simply as the "yep" before them, but their impact rivaled a minotaur's hammer.

"You love me?" came the blunt response, itself answered by a peaceful smile and nod.

"More than life."

Quietly, several moments later, Xena asked, "You don't mean you're _in_ love with me?" Adorable Gabrielle, the gentle, stubborn thing who, Xena had begun to think, had a bright future in the peaceful arts? Who charmed or swindled her way out of trouble and made their coin go twice as far as Xena could? The kid who hid behind bushes while Xena - gladly! - did all the fighting for her? Gabrielle loved _her_, a damaged and violent warlord, and apparently fought at her side?

No. No, that couldn't be right. This was some kind of trick.

But Gabrielle was walking toward her with a familiar gentle concern on her face. Once up close, she breathed, "Oh, Xena. I know it's hard to believe. I was a flighty mess at this age. But I was a little bit in love with you already, even if I couldn't recognize it yet. My soul knew." She rested her hand over Xena's heart, and Xena just stared.

"Yours might, too, if you let yourself feel it. I never asked when you started… well. Maybe you're not even attracted to me yet. I'm still a kid to you, after all." Now looking up through pale eyelashes, Gabrielle offered a self-deprecating smile. "You were gorgeous from the first moment I saw you, even if I didn't understand why I found it so interesting at the time."

"Um." Xena found she did not feel threatened by this strange Gabrielle's proximity, and she held onto that instinct. It was usually spot-on. Meanwhile, the rest of her was just lost in discombobulation. "Of course I noticed you- I mean, not in a creepy- I'm supposed to keep you safe. But you're a- an attractive young- oh what am I doing?" She whirled away a few steps and took some deep breaths before turning back.

"If what you say is true, we have to do something about it. Do you remember triggering some artifact or anything last night? Did we piss off a god or a shaman? And if you're here, where's my Gabrielle?"

The blonde smiled teasingly. "Your Gabrielle, huh? Good question…"

* * *

Gabrielle let consciousness find her slowly. Though she could sense light beyond her eyelids, the world around her sounded ever so peaceful. No crackling morning fire, no bandits on the attack, and no impatient warrior princess stalking around. Besides, she was sooo warm and comfortable. A lot moreso than usual, now that she thought about it. They must have found a soft patch of ground last night, and her head was pillowed on…

Wait. What was she using as a pillow? Her brow wrinkled. She was wrapped around it, too, with one arm and one leg flung over it. It was uneven, and it smelled faintly of leather and spice… and clean skin… and it was breathing.

"Mornin', sleepyhead," came a familiar but sleep-roughened voice from above her head. Before Gabrielle's mind could even start to reel at what was going on, the owner of the voice pressed a kiss to her hairline, sighed, and squeezed her closer.

Because she was holding her. Xena. Both arms. Xena.

Gabrielle's eyes finally flew open, and she hauled herself onto an elbow to look and make sure. "Xena?"

The woman herself cracked an eye open and frowned at her. "Oh, don't start. I know it's late, but someone kept me up all night." Xena opened both eyes and gave some kind of half-lidded, teasing smile that Gabrielle was freaking out too much to parse. "Besides, you usually like it when I sleep in with you."

"I-I'm sorry. I don't… weren't you sleeping on the other side of the fire?"

Unmistakable hurt bloomed on Xena's features. Stiffly, she said, "Then I'm sorry. I didn't think you were still that upset. I mean, last night, we… Did you not want to? I wouldn't have pushed you." Now she looked disturbed on top of the pain.

Gabrielle's heart went out to her instinctively, but she still really wanted to figure out how they had ended up like this. She took a breath and spoke softly.

"I'm not upset with you; I just don't remember." As she watched Xena's face turn questioning, she steeled herself for the next bit. "Aaand I'm guessing I should apologize for - rolling ontopofyoulikethis? I don't want to be clingy… or weird. I'm just not sure how it happened. I guess… I got cold overnight, and you were warm?"

Hurt had been replaced with full-blown concern. "Sweetheart, are you all right?" Xena pressed a hand to Gabrielle's forehead. "You feel warm, and you look kind of red. Lay back down, and I'll make you some tea, all right?"

"...Yeah, okay, tea sounds nice," Gabrielle squeaked. Sweetheart?

Xena smoothly rolled Gabrielle onto her back, extricated herself from the covers, and tucked her companion in. Gabrielle looked up, lost, as worried blue eyes took inventory of her, and hands gently smoothed her hair back and squeezed her shoulder.

"Do you hurt anywhere? I can add willow bark to it."

The mere weight of her concern made Gabrielle blush anew. "No," she answered in a small voice.

As Xena puttered around the campsite in her sleeping shift, Gabrielle mentally went over the morning so far. She had never woken up tangled with someone like that. Resting lightly against that amorous boy from the village that worshiped the Titans, sure. That night, she had lost her nerve in the face of a near-stranger's wandering hands and de-escalated their passion until they were sleeping together almost chastely. She wasn't even sure how to compare that to suddenly waking up pretty much on top of her friend and mentor. Her friend being a woman, at that.

A corner of her mind admitted it had been extremely comfortable, though. Soft, toasty, and the way they'd fit… She'd never thought about what it might be like to curl up with another woman, and now she could hardly forget.

But how did they get there? What was it Xena had said? "Xena?"

"Yeah?" The warrior shook some herbs into a pair of cups as she spoke.

"What were you saying we did last night?"

Xena looked over at her. "We had sex."

Gabrielle's mind went blank. "We what."

Xena cocked her head. "We had a pretty long day, camped like usual, and had sex. As a matter of fact, I thought it was your idea. Instead of staying up half the night writing or whatever it is you usually do, you crawled right into bed with me when I laid down."

"I… don't remember that," Gabrielle said distantly. Sex? With Xena? What, how, why her? How should she feel about this?

"I know I was a little tired, but I didn't think it was that forgettable," Xena responded in a joking tone. When she received only a flat look in response, she frowned. "It's all right, Gabrielle. We'll figure out what's wrong with you."

Okay, Xena seemed to think this was all normal. Like they had done… it... before, even. She certainly wasn't acting like she had done anything wrong. And for all her faults, Gabrielle trusted Xena completely with her safety. Except for that one time Ares had messed her up, but - could this be Ares again? But what would he have to gain from an awkward morning after something Gabrielle couldn't remember?

She was a virgin! She didn't even know how two women might…

When Xena brought the cups of tea over, Gabrielle sat up woodenly and took one. However, before she took her first sip, Xena's hand covered both of hers to still them. They were shaking. She almost pulled away, but one look at the deep emotion in Xena's face held her steady.

"Hey," Xena said quietly. "I love you. It's going to be all right. Just tell me what you're feeling. There are lots of herbs around here, and we can make the next town in a few hours if we need to."

Gabrielle's churning thoughts collapsed into a heap. "You… love me?"

Xena looked absolutely stricken, so much it made Gabrielle's heart clench. Who was this woman? The Xena Gabrielle knew had about four facial expressions: Blank nonreaction, benign tolerance, vague annoyance, and bloodlust.

But this Xena, still all softness and anguish, put her cup down and cradled Gabrielle's face in her hands. "Of course I love you. I'll always love you. Gabrielle, sweetheart, how could you forget?"

Sweetheart again. Wondering, she still managed to say, "The last thing I remember was going to sleep across the fire from you. It's been a quiet few days, I think… the last major thing was when I was an idiot and woke up those Titans."

"The Titans?" Xena blinked, and her expression turned intense. "Not Crius and the others. The two men and the woman. Not them, right?"

"Yeah, those." Gabrielle gently shook her head to clear it and to turn away from the intensity of that gaze. Once Xena reluctantly let her go, Gabrielle reached up to run her hand through her bangs. But something felt wrong. She felt around some more.

"Where's the rest of my hair?!"

Now Xena looked a little sick. "Gabrielle, your hair got cut years ago."


	2. Chapter 2: Down Roman Roads

**Chapter Two: Down Roman Roads**

Xena spent several minutes calming a quietly panicking Gabrielle, all while internally freaking out as well. How could years of the bard's memories disappear overnight? Why? What would she be like now? The lack of yelling worried Xena more than almost anything. Instead, there were tears and confusion, and Xena could only think to offer shushing, sympathetic noises and nonsense, and tea in response.

Eventually, she got Gabrielle dry-eyed, breathing normally, and sipping her cooling tea.

"Hey. Listen." Once Gabrielle's far-off gaze shifted to her, Xena offered a hand and was glad to, after a moment, receive one of Gabrielle's. "Do you feel okay, physically?"

A nod.

"And do you trust me, or did you before you woke up today?"

"Y-" she croaked, then cleared her throat. "Yes. You're my best friend."

Xena smiled. "Then trust me to get us through this. We'll figure it out."

A slow nod and a look of utter faith. Untested by Brittania, Chin, or any of their other big trials. Xena's heart twinged even as she appreciated the utility of it here.

"Okay. But… How much did I forget? How long have we been togeth- traveled together?"

"Ah… let's just say more than five years, less than fifty."

Green eyes peered at Xena in confusion and just a shadow of suspicion, and she sighed. "It's not as straightforward as you'd think. You've had a few… long sleeps."

"Like I hit my head? I… knew a farmer who got kicked by his horse and slept for five days, once. They had to drip water in his mouth, and he had a stutter when he woke up." The longest sentence she had spoken all morning.

"Not exactly." Without thinking, Xena kissed Gabrielle's fingers - and then watched the reaction with trepidation. Almost comically wide eyes, but no pulling back. Good. "We've had run-ins with some unusual magic. But I'd say you and I have spent about seven years with one another. Most of it as a couple."

"We are a couple." Not quite a question but certainly a request for affirmation.

Xena nodded. "We're married."

Gabrielle's expression grew dumbfounded, then fascinated. "Married?" she whispered.

Xena nodded and let go of her hand. "Look at the right side of your hip."

Gabrielle hesitated, then shook her head as if to clear it, probably remembering they bathed together all the time so there was no point being shy. Moving her shift and underwraps aside revealed a tattoo: The chakram or something similar to it, bisected by a quill. The writing tip sat in the foreground, hiding a bit of chakram, while the chakram hid part of the feather at the top. Delicate work, a little over half a palm wide.

"I have the same one." Xena proved it and let her partner stare from one hip to the other, mind clearly racing. "We thought about getting a permanent mehndi somewhere, but this seemed to better represent us, in this life."

Gabrielle resettled her clothes, and Xena did as well. "I've only seen tattoos on slaves before."

This spawned an ironic smile on the warrior. "If you're my slave, I'm yours, Gabrielle. But outside of Greece, people get tattoos for reasons other than slavery or showing they're part of a big-shot warlord's army. We liked the idea. Not that many other people see ours."

"I… believe you. Everything about this morning supports what you've said. But, Xena, I don't remember any of this."

"I know. It's all right. I don't expect you to… I don't expect anything from you. If you forgot as much as you say, you probably don't even like me much yet. Let's just get dressed, and we'll go from there."

"Okay." As they rolled up bedding together, though, she spoke again. "I do like you. As a- close friend. I've never met anyone like you."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah." They stowed their bedding. "Did you… like me, back then?"

Xena replied with a wry grin and a laugh. "Oh, I noticed your pretty face the first moment I saw you by that river. And when you punched that slaver, I was a goner. I just didn't know how screwed I was yet." She started scrounging in their bags for a quick breakfast.

"Really? I had no idea. You don't even… didn't even look at me much or touch me unless I was bleeding." She accepted some bread and an apple as amused eyes met her own.

"I had some self control, Gabrielle. And enough shame not to be a creep to a teenager who relied on me just because I liked the look of her." She took a moment to enjoy Gabrielle's smile, the first of the day. "Besides, I was too stubborn to realize how much I liked having you around, then."

"Well, then I don't mind admitting you were the prettiest woman I had ever seen. It distracts me, sometimes, even after living with you for weeks and weeks. I just didn't realize we could… or that any women could be married, ever."

With a rakish eyebrow raise, Xena asserted, "You and I do what we want." That got her a real chuckle, easily the best sound she'd heard all morning. She let the sound wash over her before clearing her throat and speaking again.

"Hey, you don't remember anything about a Mnemosyne temple, do you? Like maybe leaving a stone building in the middle of last night and coming back to bed?" Gabrielle was the one person so far inside Xena's defenses it was conceivable for her to have slipped in and out of their campsite and their furs in the dark woods - though only just. Maybe someone or something had lured her there?

Gabrielle shrugged. "Don't remember ever seeing a temple to Mnemosyne."

Xena sighed. "Well then I guess you don't know if we're near one, either, huh?"

"I don't know where we are at all."

"We're just southeast of Gaul - called Gallia now that Rome took it over. We're in old Roman territory. Spent some time wandering around Gallia after we left the far north. Ares and Aphrodite dropped us off across the water as a favor, but we wanted to stick around and check out the region without being in a rush to head up into the snow or back home to Greece."

Gabrielle nodded slowly, clearly not following the story thread at all. But then she blinked and shook her head. "Wait, Ares and Aphrodite? No, something's wrong with all this. Why are you working with Ares again?"

"You're right," Xena agreed amiably, "something _was_ very wrong. With the world. We fixed it by working with those two flighty walnuts, and they were feeling nice after. So they gave us a ride."

"Sooo, no evil army this time."

"Nope."

Gabrielle sat in silence, then squinted at her. "...You're sure it's not Ares? He really seemed to have it out for you, last I remember."

After giving the question its due consideration, Xena explained, "Unlikely. To us these days, Ares is like... the brother who just might turn around and stab you one day, but it wouldn't be for no reason. And unless he thinks you forgetting stuff will make me declare war on Rome or something, this just isn't his style." Not to mention him probably having his hands full after so long without his powers.

"I… see." A troubled expression took up residence on Gabrielle's face.

Xena decided to plow forward. The need to take action to fix the problem made her twitchy. "Anyway, way I see it, we can continue on to the next town and ask if there's a Mnemosyne temple around, then go ask around there, or we can retrace our steps and see if I missed something that bit you in the ass." She looked at Gabrielle, who simply blinked.

"You... usually just tell me where we're going."

Xena sighed. "I guess I do." The more things change, the more they stay the same, huh? "Well, memories are Mnemosyne's thing, so that's a good start regardless. Let's go ask about her at the town. Judging by the old Roman road marker we saw yesterday, it should just be a few hours to get there."

Decision-making was not the last trial of the morning. Next came getting dressed.

"Where's the rest of this shirt?!" The shy amnesiac eventually wound up in a short, unadorned, sky blue chiton Gabrielle kept around for times when warrior attire wouldn't make a desirable impression. Of course Xena had to help her arrange and fasten the artfully draping fabric, stirring up a cascade of blushes even as she kept her face blank and her hands focused on the task. Gabrielle did at least smile after Xena wrapped her in a yellow palla with a flourish, in case she got cold.

And after all that, she had to lead Gabrielle's horse for her, the bard having forgotten how to ride.

The fuss finally over, Xena thought they were enjoying a restful silence until she glanced back to see a dejected look on Gabrielle's face. A long sigh wafted through her mind, but she managed to put some cheer in her tone. "Er… Beats walking through the woods, right? Horses on a Roman road? Not as fast as we'd usually ride, but we'll get to that town in no time. Might even catch a play if you're- we're lucky."

Gabrielle sighed aloud. "I don't mind walking. Sorry to slow you down, though…"

Crap. "Hey, then maybe we can take a break and run later. The horses will appreciate it, and we usually do something like that anyway."

Some interest finally shone in her face. "We run together?"

"Sure," Xena drawled, relieved. "Can't always find a horse in the middle of a job. Need to know how to run."

Seeing the slow nod, Xena pressed on with her momentum, "Hey why don't you tell me about your version of last night? Maybe it'll help. What's the last thing you remember?"

"Like I said, it was pretty boring. You found us food while I made a firepit, and I put together a rabbit stew while you did your sword stuff and rubbed down Argo. We found a stream that wasn't big enough to soak in, so we used linen to wash up, and then we just… ate and sat around until we were ready to sleep."

It sounded like any one of hundreds of evenings of theirs, out on the road.

A small smile teased at Gabrielle's lips. "You… said I was getting better at cooking rabbit. But I think it was the greens you found that helped more. Anyway, that was the most unusual thing, honest. Comfortable temperature, no rain, no bandits, nothing."

Xena grunted and thought about how awfully clear the memory was, for something that happened so many years ago.

"How about you? What do you remember about yesterday? You already told me about… uh, the end of the night, but that's it."

"Weeell," Xena drawled, ordering her thoughts, "I'd better start with the day before."

* * *

Around midmorning they had arrived at a village in an uproar. Xena practically had to lasso a stable boy to make him stand still and sell space for their steeds, and before that, they saw the innkeeper slam the door behind him on his way to the center of town. So there wasn't much to be done but stash their belongings with their horses and follow along.

On a platform in the town square, a middle-aged, rangy Roman man wearing official-looking robes stared in fury as four guards wrestled two tousled-looking men out of a side-street and to their knees. Both wore trousers with large patches and were young, with dark, wavy hair and largish, straight noses, but when they laid eyes on what must have been the town's administrator, one ceased his desperate search for help among the jeering crowd and settled into pained confusion.

"Dagomaros and Katurix," roared the graying administrator, "by the power vested in me by the great Roman empire, I, Livius, accuse you of theft the likes of which this town has never seen except at the point of a spear! This hammer," he hefted a nondescript tool that nonetheless made the prisoners gape, "left in my own home shows that, in the dark of night, you broke in and took your pick among my property. I and mine extended the hand of friendship to you, and you used it to fatten your own purses."

"Gallic boys," Xena muttered to Gabrielle, who nodded absently. She tugged on Xena's elbow to draw her attention to a young woman in another part of the crowd who had dark, wavy hair, a brow somewhat similar to the ones on the accused men, and her hands bunched up in front of her mouth.

She was clearly distraught whereas the rest of the crowd ranged from disgruntled to gleeful. No words necessary, Xena gave a short nod, and they threaded their way over to her.

As they did, the administrator finished waxing poetic about the betrayal of the alleged theft, announced that a trial would be held the following morning, and had the accused dragged to a holding cell somewhere. The show over, most everyone burst into speculation with the people next to them, some of whom had apparently always known what snakes the Gallic men were, and others who simpered about the poor, trusting administrator's family. It drove the dark-haired woman to whirl away, sturdy tunic billowing with the motion, and Xena and Gabrielle had to jog to catch her.

"Hey! Excuse me," Gabrielle said as she laid a hand on the woman's arm. After making eye contact, she smiled and continued. "I'm Gabrielle, and this is Xena."

"Hey," offered Xena.

The woman stared, green eyes showing suspicion through unshed tears. She sniffed. "What do you want?"

"Well, we just got to town, and we couldn't help but notice what was going on. What's your name?"

"...Manta."

"Were those your brothers up there, Manta?"

"Yes. What's it to you?" She eyed the sword hilt over Xena's shoulder and gave both women a thorough once-over.

Xena spoke up, "In my experience, it's a little too easy for towns to blame the latest crime on whoever wasn't born there. Doesn't make it true. And I don't see too many criminals looking as confused as you three just did."

Gabrielle nodded. "We're very nosy travelers. Seen a lot. Though not much of anything more theatrical than old Livius' performance up there. Yikes."

"We'd like to help if we can."

Now fully facing the pair, Manta seemed to relax. "Well. Come home with me for a little while? I don't know what to do. Maybe talking it out with you will help me. At least it can't make it worse." She led them to a two-room cottage on the edge of town where Xena noticed a covered cart parked around the side. The three of them went inside and sat in sturdy wooden chairs around a bulky, scarred table.

"My brothers are innocent," Manta stated right away.

"How do you know?" asked Xena without insinuation. "Where were you when it happened?"

"I… wasn't here," she admitted. "I went to buy nails and things from the next town, where metal is cheaper. Made it home this morning. But they're still innocent. Katu probably left that hammer behind when he was working on their fence yesterday. I know my brothers better than any strangers in my home."

"Easy, Manta. I just want to get the facts straight. Like I said, none of you looked like hardened criminals to me, and for that matter I don't see any stolen goods around here." Xena glanced around the spare living space with its hearth, thick fur rugs, folded-up sleeping pallet, and table set. Cooking utensils, food, and miscellaneous tools hung from hooks or rested neatly on the few shelves. "Do your brothers sleep in the other room?"

"Yes. Why?"

Xena got up to have a peek and found two more sleeping pallets beside boxes and shelves of nails, wood, undyed linen, and various other things that wouldn't be worth stealing from the richest man in town. The lone storage chest stood carelessly open, the clothes haphazardly riffled through by some sleepy occupant. No signs that guardsmen had tossed the place looking for anything. She ignored Manta's hostile glare as she sat back down. "Thanks. Now, tell us about yourselves. How did three Gauls end up in this town, and what else is going on here?"

Manta stared at her, and Gabrielle gave her the dryest look before laying a cautious hand on Manta's forearm.

"I know you don't exactly trust us, but my friend here, while extremely rude, is also very smart. The more you can tell us, the better chance we have of helping you." She gave her most confident-yet-comforting smile.

And after taking a few breaths, Manta indeed spoke. "Dago, Katu, and I moved here about six years ago. Our mother died, and we just… wanted to leave where we were. Old Rome seemed as different as we could get without crossing water, so we went southeast. The area was peaceful at the time, and no one minded three quiet, scrawny teenagers. We made a life for ourselves here erecting and repairing buildings."

"Honest work," commented Gabrielle. "No wonder they let you stay."

"It is! And we do a good job. We helped families build half the houses on this street, and our roof repair is so good, we could almost put ourselves out of business. But even when no one needs a new house, there are always folks wanting other repairs and, sometimes, additions. Like Livius."

Gabrielle asked, "The administrator? You work on his property?"

"Now I wish we'd let that residence fall down around his ears, but yes. It's big, and gated, up on a little plateau up the next hill. His family took it over from an elderly administrator last year, and he decided to spend some money repairing and building onto it. It was great. We have enough money, now, we're going to expand this place again soon, or we were…"

While Gabrielle patted the woman's shoulder, Xena gently asked, "Did anything else happen between you three and Livius?"

"Not between us, but… between Dago and Livius' daughter, Lucilla, maybe."

"Oh, boy," sighed Gabrielle while Xena groaned internally. "Tell me no one's pregnant."

Manta looked scandalized. "Of course not! We all got friendly with Lucilla; he's just… moreso. I think. She's curious about how things are constructed, and most of the staff up there is nice enough and will keep us company while we work, but she's there most of all, and Dago… but with the staff around, and us only up there during daylight, they're never even alone. As far as I know."

Gabrielle asked, "Have you seen Lucilla today?"

"No, I haven't seen her since before I left town. I bet Livius kept her home, what with him arresting her friends."

"And it's a gated residence? Fenced all around?"

"Not along the back, where it runs against the hillside, and not around their vineyards, but otherwise yes, the main house area and outbuildings are fenced in."

Xena didn't get the sense the woman was lying, but she clearly didn't know everything and probably had some erroneous assumptions. And there was no point agitating her by prodding about it. They needed a lot more information, and the trial was still tomorrow. So they set about making a plan.

They would split up. Xena got directions to the administrative building, with its single jail cell, and set out to speak to Dagomaros and Katurix. Gabrielle would go talk to Lucilla, and Manta would fetch their belongings from the stable and listen for any scuttlebutt she could while otherwise staying close to her home, which would be their base of operations.

* * *

"Why wouldn't Manta go talk to Lucilla? I thought they were friends." Gabrielle stared at Xena in fascination as they both rode along on horseback. This was the longest she had ever, ever heard Xena speak, and though her storytelling technique could use work ("Some histrionic Roman administrator was yammering on, accusing a pair of Gallic boys of stealing somethin' - apparently not his giant ego - when you pegged their big sister at a hundred paces. We had to pull the traveling heroes bit to get her to talk, but-"), the content sent her imagination soaring. Actually getting to hear so much of Xena's perspective at once almost made Gabrielle forget how much her rear end was going to hurt after sitting in a saddle all day when she had no idea how.

At least Xena had re-taught her the basics of handling the easygoing, rust-colored gelding, and she wasn't being led like a child at a fair anymore.

"Manta figured they wouldn't want to see her at the residence, and I think she was right. The place was pretty closed off on a normal day, much less that one."

"Then how did I talk to Lucilla? Or did I?"

"You did, but I dunno how. Swindled your way in with some costume. We were trying not to get caught meddling at the residence, and I didn't see you until much later."

"You just… trusted me to figure it out?"

Xena gave her a dull look. "Gabrielle, you're my partner, not my camp grunt. You'd been doing this for years by then."

Just as Gabrielle felt the pride of that warm her through, Xena raised her voice in a bit of a rant. "And as much as you like me to come up with every single plan, you really don't need it. I swear you're smarter when you're nowhere near me, because if you weren't, you'd be dead."

"Uh." Gabrielle struggled with what to say. "I... can't exactly defend myself here."

Xena just sighed and continued the story. "Anyway, they wouldn't let anyone in to see the brothers, so I broke in the back. Faster than concocting some justice narrative about a fair trial I knew they wouldn't give a spit about. Unfortunately, Dago and Katu knew about as much as Manta, or so they told me. They'd been dragged off by the guards on the way home from buying goat's milk or something at a farm. Only heard about the theft then."

"Jail before breakfast. That's no fun."

"Nope. They were both fired up about Livius, though. Loverboy said Lucilla had been steered away from him lately, kept busy with nonsense tasks while he was around, that sort of thing. Figured her dad got a bug up his butt about him. Anyway, after that you weren't back yet, and Manta didn't have anything useful to tell me, so I left to sniff out more clues. But I'm tired of talking. Want to run a little while?"

"Sure!"

* * *

**End Notes:** In case it wasn't clear, this Gabrielle comes from the time after S1:E7, "The Titans," and the older Gabrielle currently hanging out with the Xena of that time comes from the time after S6:E13, "You Are There."


	3. Chapter 3: Along Greek Paths

**Notes:** Fun fact - The working title of this fic was "Back to the Future Me." In related news, I am bad at naming things!

**Chapter Three: Along Greek Paths**

Decades before Xena would meet Manta and her brothers - but also, in a way, two days after Gabrielle had - they stood in the middle of their campsite and stared at each other, at something of a loss.

"So you don't remember blacking out on any time when you were this age," Xena stated.

Gabrielle growled in frustration. "No, for the tenth time, I don't remember missing time, I don't remember my mind going anywhere else, and you never said anything about meeting a future me in my own body. We're going in circles here, Xena; what do we _do_?"

"I'm thinking!" She grunted. "Look, if you don't know what this is, I think we should try to minimize any… disruptions. I never met the Fates, but if we're all on some loom of theirs, I don't want to go winding skeins in random directions unless we know why we're doing it."

"So we should just go where we were headed before? Where were we going, anyway?"

Xena shrugged and pointed. "Down that road. Just wanted to get away from the town with the titans and see what was going on out this way. Hadn't been in years."

Gabrielle sighed. "Well, at least that's easy enough to do for now." They finished their morning tasks and got on the road, although not without some grumbling on Gabrielle's part about her voluminous clothing and farmer's shoes. She packed away her overshirt and rolled her skirt up as much as she could, which actually was a fair bit. The waist had already begun to hang loose on her hips thanks to the rigors of the road. Xena gave her outfit a raised eyebrow but said nothing.

As they walked alongside Argo, Xena explained that she thought Gabrielle should keep some secrets about the future. "Not everything. We still have to work out what's happening, and I can't think of anything you and I did recently to cause this. But for now, as long as we're trying not to disrupt anything, keep the big things quiet, would you?"

Gabrielle was quiet for a while. The possibilities offered by being in this time, back before… so much. It set her head spinning. "What do you think would happen?"

"Not sure. But once I got to thinking about it... Say a man stubs and breaks his toe on the way to buy bread in the morning. Then, he gets overcharged by the apothecary for a pain potion, and after that he ends up with the last loaf for sale at the market, which is all burnt. Lousy day, right?" She waited for a nod. "Later, his foot's still sore, and he's hungry, but he meets a spirit that offers to go back to the morning and leave him a fresh loaf of bread before dawn. No bakery trip, no problem. But what if the apothecary needed those extra few dinars for their shop rent, and moving shop means someone sick can't get medicine on time? Or someone thinks he stole the bread? Or he thinks he has a secret admirer and makes an ass out of himself? And what was the spirit really after anyw-"

"Okay, I get it! Better not to mess with things." Gabrielle smiled at Xena of all people thinking up some asinine tale for her, and the amusement chased away some of the thoughts about what might have been - and could be. "For now. Did you still want to hear about my last few days?"

"Yes, I think that's worth the risk."

So Gabrielle spun the tale of two itinerant busybodies, three Gallic siblings settled in a Roman town, and their entanglement with the local administrator's family. ("We were just traipsing around ROME?" "That is the longest story, and you don't want to know.") She got as far as them planning how to investigate the theft from the administrator's residence when they crested a hill to find six bandits waiting in the woods beside the path.

A few steps later, their amateurishly-hidden "ambush" was no surprise to either traveler; Xena knocked out two with the chakram before they'd cleared the trees. But the rest of them made their determined way toward the women, so Xena drew her sword. She leapt forward to cut off the first two with a flurry of blows ending in a fist and a pommel in their faces, respectively.

Meanwhile, one ran past the skirmish to try Gabrielle, but she easily ducked the wild opening swing of his club. She had just laid a hand on his arm to toss him on his head when a mass of leather and armor body-slammed him out of her grip.

"What are you doing?!" demanded Xena, an incredulous look on her face.

"Behind you!"

Xena spun to cross swords with the last bandit. "You're supposed to hide behind a rock, not just stand there!" She propelled the man away with a kick and backflipped around to intercept the man she'd bowled over, who was running for Gabrielle again. The sword-wielding bandit landed and immediately began to lever himself up. "It's a real hassle to focus on the fight AND you standing around like a tourist!"

Gabrielle gave an aggrieved sigh and dodged around the tussle just next to her. "I'm watching your back!" The last bandit skidded to a halt, startled to see her coming for him, and to his further surprise she rolled right past him only to twist around and whale on his kidneys with her fists. She wasn't about to grapple a swordsman in the shape she was in, but dirty tricks she could do. "That's my job."

With all the bandits either unconscious or rolling around groaning, Xena turned toward Gabrielle and threw her hands up. "I don't know what you can do, and I don't need you to do it. You're my traveling companion, not my bodyguard."

Gabrielle's eyes twitched; she could barely handle the sense of insult. What was she, just luggage at this age? Before she could fight or knew all the things that made her useful even as a pacifist? What use even… Oh, gods, was she basically what Joxer would become? Silly entertainment and an extra hand for chores?

She struggled to articulate any of it, and eventually tried, "I am your partner, not-" and growled. "But whatever. Can you call Argo over so we can get some rope? I think that one's waking up." She should calm down. Not Xena's fault she was used to protecting a kid, not relying on a blooded Amazon.

They left the bandits disarmed and tied up, assuring the conscious ones they'd send the law back to pick them up as soon as they found any.

* * *

It wasn't long before they crested a small ridge and saw a town in the near distance, so they headed that way. Silently. Behind Gabrielle's back, Xena raised her eyebrows at a familiar sullenness gathered around the slight shoulders. As if Gabrielle was the one who had a year taken off her life watching herself run at that swordsman. Then she cleared her throat. "You were saying? Two Gallic men were - as far as we knew - falsely accused of stealing from a Roman administrator, one might've been hooked on his daughter, and we were working with their sister to solve it?"

The blonde seemed to gather herself. "Yeah. We decided to play it quiet while we found more information. You went to bribe, bully, or do whatever you had to do to talk to the brothers without causing a problem, and I had to find some way to talk to Lucilla. We would meet back at Manta's and report in when we could."

"I'm betting you couldn't just walk up to the residence and ask for Lucilla."

"Definitely not. The gates were closed, and the guards were everywhere. I thought about climbing around the hillside and coming in from the back, but there was a lot of room to get caught or hurt myself doing that. So I came up with a better plan."

"I just expected you to crack a guarded Roman residence by yourself? And not get caught?"

"Yep. Surprised?"

"Yes," Xena answered bluntly. "I hate to doubt my own judgment, but that seems like a lot."

Gabrielle perked up. "It was! It was a ton of work, and you never even asked how I did it!"

Xena frowned, perturbed. "Am I missing something about the stakes here? Because I'd say either I was desperate or you are really something else, because I never trusted a lieutenant in any of my armies to pull off something that subtle."

Gabrielle opened her mouth, then closed it again and seemed to consider what to say. "Well… it's nothing I hadn't done before, and I didn't ask for any help. We were in a hurry, too. I don't think either of us wanted to see two builders lose their hands or worse when we could have stopped it."

She leaned that readily on someone? On _Gabrielle_, who she once had to help down from a tree because she'd climbed up it too far? Yeah, she was a useful little swindler from time to time, and she could be feisty, but… Xena let the thought roll over in her mind and began watching her companion with a more pointed curiosity.

"So first I put together a costume with some things I bought and some things Manta brought back with our bags…"

* * *

"Are you telling me I am not expected?" Gabrielle asked with affected outrage. She wore an off-white, flowing tunic held in place by belts tightened around her lower chest and waist - and her sais strapped to her back, under the cloth. A yellow palla draped over and around her, hiding the outline of the weapons and the decidedly un-Patrician muscle on her shoulders and arms. She gestured imperiously with a corner of the palla.

"Yes, lady, that is what I've been saying! Now get the hades out of here! It's not a good time for surprise visitors." The man, who was probably in his late 30s, had a no-nonsense, loyal look about him. Harried for sure, but he didn't seem unkind.

Gabrielle maintained a petulant expression before sighing hugely. "That stupid boy! I bet he ate like a governor with the money I paid him to send the message. I'll take it out of his hide when I get home." She squared her shoulders at the exasperated guard and tried to look fetching while imploring him.

"Please, noble guardsman. I mean to be no burden here. I'm a matchmaker - the finest one among these former border towns. You must know it's hard for those in old, elite families coming of age out here on the fringe to find suitable mates?"

The guard tilted his head, now a little calmer. "A matchmaker?"

"Yes! I am Cornelia, and I leave love, marriage, and fat little Roman heirs wherever I go. That is, if I can talk to the eligible. I hear there's an unmarried young woman here? I know some very fine men within a week's ride who could be a good fit, some any Roman father would approve."

Gabrielle watched the man grudgingly consider the request, probably balancing the order not to let anyone in with what might happen if he sent a respectable matchmaker away from a girl with a troublesome attraction to tradesmen. When he sighed, she had to bite her cheek to suppress her smile.

"Wait here. I'll get the house steward, and you can talk to him."

* * *

Xena finally had to chuckle, picturing all that. She already knew what it was like to give way to those imploring green eyes when Gabrielle wanted to eat somewhere or spend extra time shopping; the guard never had a chance.

Gabrielle looked over to smile at Xena's laughter before they crested the next hill, and then she scanned their surroundings.

So strange, looking into that darling face to see world-wise, watchful eyes. This Gabrielle even walked differently, more confident, owning the space around her while somehow rounding out the last gawky corners of her young frame. She rested more weight on the balls of her feet, too, hinting at a fighter's poise. Xena guessed she would fill out kind of muscular, judging by the way she held herself now. That sure would be interesting to see.

Xena also noticed that Gabrielle had forgotten to continue the story and was looking at her funny. Kind of… dopey.

"What?"

"I know you're older than me still, but you look like such a baby, especially when you smile. I want to pinch your cheeks."

Xena flattened her expression to a glare. "Don't." Then she had to roll her eyes at Gabrielle's uninhibited laugh.

When it was quiet again, she asked, "...Do I age that rough?"

* * *

After all the cranky stoicism, Gabrielle found this bit of insecurity endearing. Indulgently, she assured, "Like fine wine, my love. No one believes your age." Partially because of the twenty-five-year ice nap they took, but even still! They both took amazing care of themselves for people who lived rough most of the time, if she did say so herself.

Xena blinked at her but didn't seem offended by her tone or phrasing, instead looking away a little awkwardly. "...You mind if I ask how we got together?"

Interesting. "I thought you didn't want to talk about the future too much?"

"I don't need any details, just… how. Why, I guess. I like being around you, but I figured you would end up with some boy we met on the road, or maybe you would pick up a trade and go train it. If I could keep you alive that long. And anyway, it's not exactly my habit to seduce young girls."

Gabrielle let out a deliberate snort. "Yeah, don't worry. I'm aware that 'young and innocent' is far from your fetish. It's the bad boys I've gotta keep an eye on." She looked over to see a carefully blank expression on Xena's face.

"As for how and why? I guess we're still getting to know each other in this time, but you'll figure out soon we actually have a lot in common. We're from unsophisticated towns, and we love travel and exercise. And a lot of the same foods. We show affection physically, a lot, enough that sometimes you know I love you because I'm annoying you to pieces, and you show me back by hauling me around by my shirt collar or picking me up and dropping me in some body of water. We like to take care of each other and protect each other, and we take pride in that."

Xena digested that for several moments. "All of that?"

"Yep. And it's not just similarities. You're calm when I'm ready to fly off the handle. I'm calm when you're itching for a messy fight. We split camp chores well. That sort of thing.

"Plus, you're exactly my type - tall, dark, driven, and gorgeous. And… well, I don't think there are a lot of shorter blondes in your past, right, other than Iolaus? But you don't ever let me doubt you want me."

Xena's face went through myriad understated expressions. "...Did you say you have short hair in the future?"

Gabrielle laughed. "You'll like it more than you think. Unless you've been lying to me, but you're nowhere near good enough to keep that up as long as I've had it short." Being able to inspire innocent discomfiture in Xena was turning out to be a rare treat, as was watching her try to come to grips with the reality of their future together.

But she let the warrior off the hook for now, no matter how funny her expressions were. Instead she peered at the farming homesteads dotting the now-flatter landscape to their right, and then looked ahead. "Anyway, I think I can finish up the part about the residence before we get to that town."

* * *

The house steward took Gabrielle's - or rather, Cornelia's - pitch with suitable caution. However, after she spun an anecdote about a young hero freshy-returned from Brittania finding peace with the only daughter of a border administrator, then spoke of a trio of sisters all married off to first and second sons of governors, he seemed satisfied. He expressed in no uncertain terms that there would be no deals and no money exchanged until Livius, the administrator, could talk to her and was certain she could get results. But for now it wouldn't hurt for her to speak to young Lucilla over a light meal.

Getting the girl alone was another trial entirely.

"Please, I must insist! This is her future we're talking about. I need to speak with her honestly in order to find the best possible match." Gabrielle pointed at Lucilla, who had turned out to be a petite girl with thick, honey-colored hair worn in a fancy tail. At that moment, huge brown eyes conveyed watery sullenness through long lashes. By Cupid's pecs, no wonder the young builder got spellbound.

"You are a stranger," stated the steward flatly.

"I am a professional. Leave a bell and a knife with her, if you're so concerned. But I simply cannot work with servants and stewards hanging over her shoulder. Or mine. Look." She suddenly stepped right into the steward's space, put a hand on his shoulder, and spoke quietly into his ear.

"I have some very personal questions of a… physical nature. It's important in regards to heirs, you understand. But she isn't going to say anything like that in front of you, is she?"

The steward stepped back and looked at her in bewilderment, but she just stared at him as if she fully expected him to understand what she meant. His pride mellowed out his expression in seconds, and he sniffed. "Ah, right. Yes. When you have wine and bread in front of you, we will leave you alone. But Lucilla, we will be just in the hall. One shout or ring of a bell, and we will come in. Okay?"

The girl sniffled. "...Fine."

The moment they were alone, Lucilla sat down and said, "You are free to eat with me, but I will not be talking to you about any matchmaking. Not today of all days. I only agreed to let you in here because I thought, if you were kind enough to be quiet, I could finally have some peace."

Gabrielle dropped the Cornelia attitude entirely. "Don't worry, I'm not here to bother you about strange men. I'm here about Dagomaros and Katurix."

Lucilla blinked. "What?"

"Their sister sent me. She thinks they're innocent. Do you know anything about what happened last night?"

* * *

"And of course she didn't know anything, or so she said. All she would do was swear up and down that Dago would never do such a thing, that he was such a respectable man and a hard worker, and had I seen his hands? They were sooo strong, but he was so gentle. And he loved her, so how could he steal from her family?"

Xena snorted, and Gabrielle said, "Yep. All that for not much more than a dead end. Though now that I think about it, she sounded a bit like I probably do when I talk about you at this age.

"Anyway, I at least believed her when she said Dago was innocent. She didn't pay much attention to Katu, I think, other than thinking he was funny. He was a few years younger than Manta and Dago."

"Well, seems like a good a place to pause as any. There's the guard shack."

The townsmen, it turned out, were thrilled to hear they'd caught six whole bandits, though one admitted he'd rather they killed them, and a few others nodded at the sentiment. They weren't even annoyed they had to go fetch the criminals, at least not once they realized the women didn't want any kind of reward except a replacement rope.

"They weren't professional-seeming, I'd guess? No offense, but two women taking six men, I have to assume they were the hungry and stupid kind."

Xena answered with a small, wry smirk. "None taken; they were."

The man sighed. "Well, it's still a help. Be careful, though. We heard rumor there's a bandit leader in these parts. His people aren't exactly supposed to be Legionnaires, but they're fast and mean. And I bet they'd be on you two in a heartbeat."

"Just a rumor?" asked Xena.

"Yeah, I haven't seen hide nor hair of any really competent bandit. Could just be bored traders talking stories, but I thought I would mention it, since they're supposed to be out the way you're going."

"Thanks." After he wandered off, Xena and Gabrielle looked at each other.

"Do you remember this place or if we did anything about these bandits?"

Gabrielle shook her head. "I don't remember this at all. But maybe it just wasn't remarkable? We fight bandits all the time." They shrugged and continued down the road.


	4. Chapter 4: Mysteries

**Chapter Four: Mysteries**

Eventually, Xena and her temporarily (it _had _to be temporary) amnesiac wife arrived at an old Roman town. It seemed to be in decline, with only one operating inn and a fair few crumbling homes, but the innkeeper seemed friendly enough - and tolerant of odd questions once the couple bought food and some generous mugs of ale.

"Do you know if there's a temple to Mnemosyne around here?"

"Nemo-who?"

Gabrielle looked at the curly-haired man as if he had drooled on his tunic. "...Mnemosyne. The mother of the muses? She's the goddess of memory."

"That's not Mnemosyne; that's Minetia."

"No, Drusus, that's Moneta," corrected a weary-sounding woman from down the bar. "These two must be Greek if they call her Mnemosyne."

"Oh. Guess I should stick to ale-brewing."

Xena tried a self-deprecating smile. "Guilty. We've been traveling for a while, though."

The woman, plain and wearing travel-stained clothes, lifted an eyebrow. "Must have been a bad trip if you want to visit Moneta."

"It's been somethin'. Can you tell us if there's a temple nearby? Or an acolyte or something?"

"As it happens," the innkeeper stated, "I do know there's a temple to memory out that away." He and the woman directed them back the way they came but farther east.

Xena had some doubts Gabrielle could have snuck all the way out there and returned in the middle of the night, but any temple dedicated to memory seemed like as good a lead as any considering their problem.

Later, as they lingered over their ale, Gabrielle broke their companionable silence. "Hey, Xena? Why did you think this quiet place would have a play for us to see?"

"That road marker pointing here had the two theater faces on it. The sad and crazy ones?"

Dubiously Gabrielle asked, "...Tragedy and comedy masks?"

"Yeah, that. It was old, though, and this place is close to the old border. I bet Gallic raids ran the artsy types out of town and down south somewhere, back in the day."

Gabrielle buried her face in her hands and groaned before revealing her face to complain, "All these years together, and I couldn't teach you even that much culture?"

Xena couldn't tamp down a little smile at Gabrielle's chagrin. "Hey, you married a warrior, not a stage actress. I can read and write a battle map just fine, and I got you for the rest of it." She took a moment to appreciate Gabrielle's sudden blush, unmistakable even in the inn's poor light. "Come on. I think we can make that temple tomorrow morning if we start moving now."

Gabrielle's pink complexion persisted as she glanced away and scratched her cheek, the corner of her lip twitching up. Then she looked hopefully back up at Xena. "Will you finish the story on the way?"

"Sure, right after you bargain us up some travel food. If you're up to it, I mean."

"Of course!"

* * *

When Xena returned to Manta's after questioning Dago and Katu in the jail, Gabrielle wasn't back yet, and Manta didn't have any new information for her, either - just a flurry of questions about her brothers.

Xena tried to skim the gossip over an early lunch at the nearest inn, but all she learned was that no one there suspected anyone except the Gallic siblings. Gabrielle might have gotten more information, but since she wasn't there, Xena decided to change tack and play to her own strengths.

Back near the town's administrative building, she slowly perused some stands and carts while taking in the mid-day activity. Which was almost… sleepy. Guards went about their business without much briskness, even as it began to rain, and the milling crowd thinned. Only servants wearing a distinctive tunic style Xena surmised belonged to Livius' personal household showed much emotion. A few moved with purpose to and from the administrative building, looking grim and harried. Normal for residents of a robbed household, perhaps. But Xena wasn't sure. All but one went back in the direction of Livius' household when they left the building.

So Xena went to the door and asked for an audience with Livius.

With relaxed eyebrows, a tilt of the chin, and a slight smile, she explained to a town guard, "I have an offer for him. I think I can do some work that's beyond the scope of the guardsmen here." Her casual arrogance got the lip curl she expected from the man, but she met his gaze evenly.

"We're experienced professionals here. You think a leather outfit and a couple extra inches of height makes you a special mercenary lady?"

"A couple extra inches do make a difference, or didn't your wife ever tell you that?" Even seeing the guard's dawning outrage, Xena decided she couldn't quite regret her cheap shot. Still, she gentled her tone to say, "Easy, I'm not trying to pick a fight. As it happens, I am special, or at least I have a special set of skills."

"Is swinging a sword special now, or do you think you have a cutting wit?"

"Nice. No, I heard you have a theft problem in these parts?"

The guard growled, "We caught them."

"And you think that's the end of the story? Come on, brother. Let me in, and your boss will pay me to chase down their accomplices and fences. Before he sends you all to do it. Or do you like sniffing out bandit lairs in the rain and sleeping in the mud?"

The man heard her out, hesitated… and threw a hand up in the air. "Fine. I'll go with you just to see him toss you out. And if you try anything, I'll kill you. Understood?"

"Sure, sure."

Moments later, Livius himself blinked at her from behind his desk as he refocused away from the scrolls before him. "Who is this?"

Xena let a beat pass as the guard realized he didn't know her name. "Good afternoon. I'm Xen-" she coughed, "excuse me. Road was dusty today. I'm Xenia, and I'm a bounty hunter, among other things. I understand you've been the victim of some thieves?"

Livius raised an eyebrow at the guard before looking back. "We caught them."

"So I heard, but have you recovered your goods?"

Now he looked her over in earnest, taking in her stature, her musculature, and the natural way she stood in clean but well-used armor and weaponry. He slowly admitted, "No, not as yet."

"Well, speaking from experience, even the greenest thief doesn't carry off that volume of loot without a fence or at least a hiding spot lined up. Hire me. At a minimum, I'll recover any goods not already broken into pieces, and if you're willing to pay for it, I can dig up the whole network those boys were going to use to profit off your belongings."

With no hesitation came a polite, "That won't be necessary."

Xena maintained her reasonable tone and offered a small smile. "I know you don't know me from a wool peddler, but my rates are reasonable. I just ask a small advance for my time, and we can negotiate a scale for the rest based on how much property and how many criminals I bring you."

"You seem quite professional, but it won't be necessary. It's being taken care of. Please, enjoy a respite in our town before moving along the road. We'll have a public trial and, likely, a punishment tomorrow, if that is to your taste."

Xena glanced to the side in time to see the guard's puzzlement at Livius' calm dismissal. Then she offered Livius a slight shrug and a polite nod of acknowledgment. "Thank you for your time anyway. Perhaps we can do business another time."

A few short moments later, she left the building in a random direction for a few blocks before turning toward the administrator's property. The last puzzle piece had to be there.

* * *

"Was it?" Gabrielle asked, absorbed.

Xena hit her with a tolerant smile of such gentle affection Gabrielle paused mid-step. The younger version of her mentor was never so open, and it made these little smiles and the obvious love in them feel disproportionately intense.

"Well, a big piece was. After some very slow, muddy sneaking around Livius' vineyards, I found an old shed built up against his house fence, and in it was a pile of 'stolen' goods. High quality candleholders, busts, even some chairs, all right there on his property, blocking off the farming tools and with hardly a speck of dust on 'em." Xena waited for a response to this revelation, and as Gabrielle thought over the story's details, her quiet encouragement, at least, was familiar.

Gabrielle guessed, "Did his own servants steal from him and let the builders take the blame?"

Xena's smile turned wistful. "That's what you asked when I found you."

* * *

In taking a long arc out of Livius' grapevines and the stakes they climbed, toward the lightly wooded road, Xena spotted a familiar blonde head atop a decidedly unfamiliar outfit. It just took some jogging to catch up.

"Gabrielle!" Xena saw her turn.

"Hey!" The bard's smile was infectious, and, for now blissfully alone, the pair hugged without thought or preamble.

Xena patted the sais hidden at Gabrielle's back and teased, "Ooh, you feel awful tense."

Gabrielle kissed her cheek before pulling away. "You doof."

Heedless of the rain running down their faces, Xena kissed away Gabrielle's reluctant smirk at her bad joke. Rainwater and Gabrielle fresh on her lips, she rested their foreheads together to softly ask, "I'm a doof? How were you going to get to these if you got into a fight? Strip? Assuming you didn't trip on this long thing first." She tilted to the side, looked down, and tugged at the sopping off-white tunic before Gabrielle smacked her hand.

"I'm wearing my regular outfit under this!" A grin took any heat away from the protest.

Xena guessed they were giving each other equally mushy looks, but she didn't care. The touching and ribbing siphoned away some of the mystery's tension and energized her to continue running it down. "So yes, strip. That's my girl."

"Yeah, yeah, you're a bad influence. Do you want to swap stories now or wait until we get to Manta's?"

"Let's pull over. I'm not sure I'm going back with you. But you first."

"All right." They stepped into the shelter of the roadside trees and leaned on neighboring trunks. Between the branches overhead and the slowing of the rain, they could almost begin to drip-dry. "I got Lucilla alone to talk, and I don't think she's in on it. Not the type. Also, she's really in love with Dago and can't imagine he'd steal from her family. She didn't have much to say about Katu other than that she doesn't think he did it, either. But she's so lovesick, I would trust your read of the boys more than hers. Especially of Katu, since Lucilla only has eyes for his big brother."

"Dago and Katu just seemed confused when I talked to them. Dago has it bad for Lucilla, though, and he thinks Livius was keeping them apart whenever he went to the residence to work."

"So there's no love lost between Livius and those siblings."

"Nope. But more importantly, I found the stolen goods."

"What- really? Where?"

"In a shed in Livius' own vineyard. That's why I'm up here."

"Do you think his own servants stole from him and framed the boys? The ones I met seemed loyal, but, Xena, that would be a really good plan. Livius doesn't like the builders being around his daughter anyway; he'd fall right for it."

"It could be that, or it could be Katurix is working with the servants, but my money is on Livius arranging it himself, with just a few employees in on it. I offered to find his stuff for him, and he didn't seem to give a single fig where it was."

"Damn. What should we do?"

Xena restrained a sigh at the question and answered honestly, "I think we should keep an eye on the goods and then tell everyone about it at the trial tomorrow. Nice and public."

Gabrielle nodded. "Good thinking. That will shake something loose, and anyway, we're pretty much out of time to question anyone else who knows anything." It was almost dinnertime and very close to nightfall.

"Exactly. Take the frippery off and go to the shed. Don't get caught." Xena gave directions. "I'll come back with food for us and take the first watch. Then you go explain all this to Manta, go to sleep, and come back to take second. Come morning, I'll drag the whole trial up here come Hades or high water."

"You're going to trust me to wake up in the middle of the night?"

Xena gave her a playful shove. "Drink a lot of water." She let her smile fall away. "And tell Manta you need to be up. I doubt she'll sleep tonight."

A sigh. "I know. I feel terrible for her, whether either brother is guilty or not."

"Yeah. And hey, if you don't make it, you'll just have to bring the trial to me. But no promises about my attitude if I don't sleep before you bring half the town up there."

"Deal. See you at the shed, Xena."

* * *

Many years earlier, and much further south, Gabrielle told Xena of their forest rendezvous and her own trip back to the vineyard shed. She allowed herself a digression to complain about her muddied tunic, thanks to a dirty Xena and a squelching dirt road, but she stopped midway to listen to an out-of-place sound.

"Gabrielle, someone's crying ahead."

Gabrielle's eyebrow twitched. "...Yeah, I hear it. That's why I stopped talking."

"Then what are you waiting for? Someone could be hurt."

The pair ran around a few bends to find a man sitting on the back of a cart, one of its wheels busted nearly in half and its remaining contents ravaged and half-strewn around the road. Dried blood and dust covered the side of the man's face, which rested in his hands as he sniffled. A gray, stocky horse still hitched to the front of the cart kept pitching its head up and back to check on its owner.

Gabrielle skirted around a disemboweled clothing chest and jumped a few waterskins to get to the man's side. "Hey, are you all right?"

Xena got to the man's other side at the same time and immediately put her hands on him to check his injuries. He recoiled, then scrambled further into the cart when he uncovered his face and got a good look at her.

"I don't have anything else, please!" Middle age had framed his hazel eyes with laugh lines, and he kept his light brown hair in a thick tail, but terror now twisted his otherwise-handsome features.

Gabrielle blinked at him, then glanced over to see a haunted sort of shock on Xena's face. She swiftly turned back to the man. "It's okay! We were just passing through and thought you needed help. My friend is the best healer I've ever met; she just wants to look at your injuries. Okay?"

The man looked between the two women with less panic but more confusion.

"She's only dangerous when she's supposed to be; honest." Gabrielle clasped the hand hanging awkwardly at Xena's side and, in some weird reflex, brought it to her mouth to kiss its back. Now two people were blinking at her, but she just went with it. "She's a total softie. Do you think she'd let me get away with this stuff if she wasn't?" She reached over with her free hand and pinched the underside of Xena's upper arm.

"Hey!" Xena barked reflexively, probably more from shock than pain. It shook her out of whatever spiral or funk she was in, and this time Gabrielle appreciated receiving her glare. Xena pulled her hand back. "Gimme that before you bite it."

She turned back to the man, all business. "Don't mind my friend; her hometown has thrice the number of sheep as it has people. Let me look at that head wound. Clean the dirt out, at least. What's your name? Do you feel nauseous?"

While Xena questioned the man, named Milo, about his head, Gabrielle brought her supplies from Argo's saddlebags, then left her to clean the wounds while she examined the scene. There wasn't much blood, just a few drops and splatters near the cart, plus a congealed puddle where, she surmised, the man had lain unconscious. The articles left in the cart and on the road were mostly personal effects and common tools, and the most recent marks in the dust spoke of a huge tussle with a number of men and at least one horse.

She returned to Xena's side as the older woman finished bandaging the wound, but on the way, she noticed something odd about Milo's leg. Broken? No, just a twisted foot of some kind. She guessed he had a permanent limp. "Told you she'd fix your head right up. Are you hurt anywhere else?"

"Just bruises, I think…" The man wasn't tall but had a nice tenor, currently a little shaky.

Xena asked, "What happened?"

"We were… My son, his wife, and I were moving. We're bowyers and fletchers, and our town- it's not important. Our business was closing, and with this leg, best way I can earn money is making bows, arrows, sometimes wooden pieces for tools... It's all my son and I know. We heard of a set of villages who lost their bowyer, so we set out with everything, and this morning, these- these men-" He took several deep breaths.

Gabrielle put a hand on his shoulder and spoke gently, "I know it's hard, Milo. We're going to help you however we can, but we have to know everything, okay?"

The man opened his mouth, then closed it again and shook his head. After a few more tries, he managed, "I- I don't know! They came out of nowhere, hit me in the head, and when I woke up-" He raised his hands to gesture at the road and his cart. "They're gone! My boy and his Leah!"

Gabrielle pressed, "Who attacked you? Bandits?" She got a nod. "Did they say anything or have distinctive clothing on?"

Meanwhile, Xena disappeared, only to reappear being half-dragged by the cart horse, who shoved her nose at the man. He immediately hopped down from the cart to start scratching the animal and then threw his arms around her neck, burying his face in her dark mane. Head pressed against his fussing horse, his shoulders trembled less, and his breathing evened out.

Of course Xena would think of that one. Gabrielle gave her partner a fond look over the mare's bowed neck, but Xena didn't see it, sending her own softly satisfied smile at Milo and his friend.

Eventually, he managed to calmly explain, "They wore green, most of the ones I saw. Not any particular outfit, just green. And they were on foot, all but one I saw."

Xena responded, "Thank you. And look, I don't see a lot of blood or anything. Your family was likely alive when they left this spot, and we're going to try and find them that way, all right?"

"...Yeah. Okay."

Gabrielle and Xena helped the man repair his cartwheel and gather his belongings, then sent him toward the town they had recently left. Alone on the road, they dropped their reassuring air and gave each other a worried look.

"They probably took that couple to sell as slaves, Xena."

"And they're awfully bold to be doing that so close to town. Or desperate. I need to keep eyes in the back of my head."

"We both will. Anyway, I know we heard rumors about this in town, but they were so vague! How, when they're snatching people this close?"

"Could be they choose targets that won't be missed, and they don't usually leave survivors. That man is lucky his cart was too much work to steal.

"Pull out some things we can eat while riding. We'll stay on Argo for a while, then stop a little early if we can find a defensible campsite."

"Sure. Can I finish the story while we ride?"

"I think you'd better. This is getting serious, for something you don't remember at all."


	5. Chapter 5: Answers

**Chapter Five: Answers**

Following their rendezvous on the road from Administrator Livius' residence, Gabrielle waited for Xena inside his vineyard shed, perusing the stolen goods there in idle curiosity. After dinner, once full dark set in, she left Xena guarding the shed from outside. It was safer, then, to lie in wait amongst the vines, which climbed stakes and made little fences of themselves; neither one of them wanted to be sitting blindly inside a building with one exit if anyone came calling. At least the mud-stained, off-white tunic, now spread on the ground, provided some comfort and warmth against the rain-soaked soil. And, thankfully, Gabrielle was confident in her ability to remove mud from garments.

Hours later, she took Xena's place in the chill. And waited, keeping the shed door in sight. And waited. Until movement caught her eye, not by the shed but down and around the length of the fence, near the main gate.

Peering through the pre-dawn gloom, Gabrielle saw at least two figures - and then heard a high-pitched voice exclaim with outrage. Lucilla? Was that man dragging her away?

Gabrielle jumped to her feet, then looked back and forth between the shed she'd sworn to guard and the girl who might be in trouble. But only for a moment. She drew a sai and hurled it with all her might at the wooden block serving as the shed door's latch, then picked up the filthy, mostly-dry tunic from the ground and rushed toward the gate.

After shaking the garment out as best she could, she wore it in unbelted dishevelment when she reached what was, she could now see, a house guard pushing Lucilla into a small cart, almost a chariot, laden with boxes and a plush bench.

"What in blazes are you doing?" she demanded haughtily.

The guard almost leapt out of his skin before whirling to look at her. Incredulous, he demanded back, "Where did you come from?! And who are you?"

"Gab-" Lucilla started.

"I am this girl's matchmaker, Cornelia. Where are you taking her? If she's being bundled off to a hasty marriage, I assure you I can find her a better match. My goodness, she wasn't even affianced yesterday." Gabrielle didn't exactly have a full plan, but delaying things was a start, even if she had to look crazy to do it.

Now calmer, the guard was not impressed. He planted himself between Gabrielle and his charge and looked sternly down at her. "Whatever went on yesterday, you are trespassing right now. And out of your mind. Did you sleep in a ditch, lady?"

Gabrielle sniffed and crossed her arms. "I fell. Dark roads and mud make bad bedfellows."

He groused, "Yeah, well so do you and my morning. I'm on a schedule to get us to town, but I can't just leave you wandering around up here."

Both Lucilla and Gabrielle asked, "Just to town?" and Gabrielle felt a small thrill of success. If she was too troublesome to leave alone, at an hour when hardly anyone but the house's cook was likely to be awake…

"Yeah, there's a trial, which you'd know if you weren't skulking around the hills like a weasel."

Wait, the girl was being sent to the trial? If so, then it was probably, Gabrielle realized, to make her watch her boyfriend get convicted of theft and punished for it. Someone like Livius might think that a good lesson.

But Lucilla perked up. "The trial! Gabrielle, my Dago, I have to stop them - to speak for him!" She spun around, leapt to the front of the cart, grabbed the reins, and gave them a firm crack. The pied horse at its head startled badly, neighed, and took off - not down the road but along the fence and farther away from the shed.

The cart flew over a rock and landed in a rut, jarring Lucilla off her feet and making her drop the reins - which started trailing through the dirt. And away the cart went, veering from the fence and threading two rows of vines.

Both the guard and Gabrielle yelled in dismay, the guard with his hands clutching his head - likely imagining where it might fly off to if he let his boss' child kill herself in his vineyard. They both made a run for the cart, Gabrielle tearing off her shoddily-tied tunic and yelling advice for calming the animal.

"Look what you did, whoever you are!" The guard punctuated the remark with a glare which turned into a double-take at her outfit. They were not gaining on the runaway vehicle.

"I didn't know she'd do that! Who taught her to drive?"

"She doesn't drive!"

"Apparently!" Gabrielle dodged around a box that had flown from the cart. "I'm a friend of hers, and I want her safe. That's all. I'll help you."

The guard didn't have much choice but to believe her in the moment, and as the horse reached where the plateau ran into the hillside, they both tensed to see if it would stop or wreck. Instead, it veered off to the left and into another lane between vines. Far behind, they both leapt rows and rows of vines to try to intercept it, Gabrielle easily outstripping the guard with her modest acrobatics and planning to vault aboard the horse - but even she wasn't fast enough.

And so it went, the two on foot, soon joined by a second house guard, desperately trying to intercept the cart as it wended its way between and sometimes through rows of vines. Gabrielle began to wonder whether the horse was still spooked or just having the time of its life. Eventually, in the early light of day, Gabrielle managed to jump onto the horse's back and haul it to a stop near the gate. She gasped and panted, soaked with sweat and leaning on the animal's lathered neck as the men straggled up to the cart behind her and started fussing over Lucilla.

"I'm unhurt! Get off! Gabrielle, I have to get to the trial!" She sounded frantic, but when Gabrielle turned her head to speak, she instead gave a sigh of relief. There was a crowd nearing them on the road, headed by Xena and with Livius close behind her. Manta was there, too, along with numerous townspeople and, in the middle, Dagomaros and Katurix, hands bound behind their backs and arms held by town guards.

When they got near, Lucilla jumped out of the back of the cart and ran straight to Dago to wrap her arms around him. The town guards were nonplussed, clearly unwilling to lay a hand on the administrator's child, while Dago pressed his face to her hair. Xena watched the young woman run past, then turned to Gabrielle, who slid off the horse's back.

"What happened?" Xena asked, businesslike in tone but eyeing her wrung-out spouse with a little concern.

"Yes, what is the meaning of this?" demanded Livius.

Gabrielle ignored him and looked straight at Xena. "They were dragging her away in this cart. I ran over to stop it, and while that guard and I were arguing, she spooked the horse. Took us until just now to catch it."

Xena turned a glare toward Livius, who returned it readily. They already seemed on each other's last nerve. She hissed, "Dragging her where?"

"To the trial. I wanted her there to see her 'friends' for who they really are. Thieves and liars."

Xena blinked and shot a querying look at Gabrielle who nodded sheepishly. "The trial. I didn't know until it was too late..."

"If you're here, who's been watching the goods?"

"No one since before dawn," Gabrielle admitted, and Xena's eye twitched. The gathered crowd eyed them both, intrigued. Xena didn't sigh or respond to the confession, but both she and Gabrielle were short on sleep and harried, and the bard could easily read the aggravation in the muscles of Xena's neck.

"Let's go see the shed."

A few grave-silent minutes of walking later, everyone could see the door hung open, the shed empty of all 'stolen' goods. Gabrielle picked her sai off the ground, where it lay next to a hatcheted chunk of wood that had been a latch an hour ago. She gave Xena a bleak look and received a stoic mask in return.

And Livius gloated. "Here is the evidence promised by the folk hero Xena - nothing. And now this farce has gone on long enough. Guards, take-"

"No," barked Xena. "You had it moved, you rat. I'm sure of it now. You're not taking those boys anywhere but back to their home."

Livius flinched, the venom in her tone and the ice chips of her eyes piercing his composure. But then he took a deep breath and intoned, "We've heard your wild conjecture. The only _evidence_ points to those two as thieves, and it is my responsibility to have them punished."

"If anyone tries to hurt them, they. Will. Regret it," Xena nearly growled, her line in the sand clear.

Gabrielle glanced around at dozens of faces, almost physically sensing the tension. Manta looked exhausted but hopeful, her brothers worried, the town and house guards also worried and eyeing Xena up and down. Townspeople looked mostly thrilled, drinking in the scene of their administrator and the warrior princess facing off before the yawning shed door. Only Lucilla moved much, resting her hand on Dago's chest but looking between her father and her friends. Finally, she stepped away from them and nearer her father.

"He's- he's not guilty." She visibly gathered her will and spoke with more force, "He couldn't have stolen anything because... he was with me all night!"

Thunderous silence ensued, broken several moments later by Livius. "You slept with him?!"

"...Yes," the girl affirmed, managing to lift her chin a hair. "So you can't hurt him for stealing. He has an alibi."

Xena and Gabrielle looked at each other just to share the moment of incredulity, then turned back to the spectacle.

"And what about Katurix? What did he get up to while you were disgracing this family with his brother? Their sister was away; she can offer no alibi."

Gabrielle interjected, "Nothing was stolen! You hid everything in this shed so you could frame the brothers."

"And where's your evidence of that?"

Xena yelled, "Your men took it! Let me follow their trail, and-"

"Enough! That's enough time spent on your wild tale. Katurix stole-"

"I was in Lucilla's room all night! Er, pretending to be her, asleep, in case someone came in!" The youngest Gallic sibling frantically amended his declaration as whispers and gasps arose. "Those two snuck out. I helped them get out and let them back in after."

Rage overflowed Livius' face in the form of a rising flush. "You all planned this? Conspiracy! In my own house!"

At Xena's side, Manta stepped forward to exclaim, "I left you two alone for a DAY." She shared a perturbed look with the administrator, and then both recoiled.

Xena finally spoke again, with an authoritative calm. "All right, so the kids got to canoodling and lied about it. So what? At his age, I was in my third ravaging army. These three aren't so bad." All attention now on her, she turned accusatory. "While you, an appointed administrator, lied to everyone because you didn't like your kid's boyfriend and were going to have him and his brother killed for all we know."

"Well now all three of them can share the same fate: exile, for depriving my family of a respectable heir. No Patrician will have her now. I want both men and my- and Lucilla out of this town immediately. Does anyone object to my ruling?"

All he received were aborted protests and murmurs of agreement. The theft had become immaterial, the lie unprovable for the moment. The realization dawned for Gabrielle with a rising horror.

"But… she's your daughter," she tried.

In a small voice, Lucilla said, "Father… please, I'm sor-"

"Not anymore," Livius interrupted in an icy tone. "You two can leave, as well. We don't need your meddling in this town. Look how it's turned out."

"Our meddling?" Xena exclaimed.

"You have until midday."

* * *

Gabrielle paused the story because they found a place to camp - a thicker copse of trees well away from the road - and began setting it up. Right away, she offered to take care of Argo - something young her really didn't do - so Xena could get an early start hunting.

"It's awful rocky around here. Might take you a while."

Xena raised both eyebrows, pleased. "If you're sure?" After being given a nod, she shrugged. "Thanks. I'll try to be quick."

Gabrielle began removing Argo's tack as Xena got her bow and left, but once she was sure Xena was far enough off, Gabrielle paused in her work to walk around to Argo's head.

"Hey, sweet girl." She let the horse sniff at her skeptically. "You still hate this me, huh? Maybe you'll like me better after a good brush and rub-down."

After looking around again to be sure she was alone, Gabrielle procured a withered apple from her annoyingly voluminous skirt, retrieved from their bags earlier and secreted away for this purpose. She fed it to Argo, who twitched her ears forward happily and finally let Gabrielle rub her nose.

"I miss you," she whispered, and planted a kiss on the long face before patting a cheek and getting back to her work.

* * *

"You have until midday."

That wasn't the end of the argument, but at its close, Xena and Gabrielle helped Manta and her brothers pack their entire lives into their cart, pulled by their lone donkey. Lucilla trailed along but mostly didn't help, clearly in shock. Then, Xena and Gabrielle led their horses out of town behind them, hardly looking at each other. Outside the walls, with some guidance from the seasoned travelers, the younger people developed a plan to travel north, with the option to go west a ways and speak to Lucilla's uncle if she thought he would be sympathetic.

"Lucilla," Gabrielle spoke, "I'm so sorry. Really. But look, don't give up on your father yet. He might come around." The three exiles and Manta looked at her skeptically.

Sounding tired, Xena added, "She's right. I don't know your father well, but you would be surprised what time can do for family feuds. Speaking from experience."

Gabrielle nodded. "Let him get to missing you, and write him when you can. So he knows where to contact you."

"Yeah… okay." Lucilla didn't sound convinced, and an uneasy silence settled in. The older women didn't say more on the subject. What guarantee could they offer?

However, as they got ready to leave, Manta grabbed a hand each from Xena and Gabrielle and said, "Thank you," with sincerity. "You did so much. They could be dead if it weren't for you."

"Or Lucilla could have been at the trial anyway, to the same effect," countered Xena. "But you're welcome. Stay safe out there."

"None of you deserve this," Gabrielle tried to reassure them. "Don't let this petty town make you feel like you do. Okay?" And they said their goodbyes and parted ways.

Gabrielle rode beside and just behind Xena, whose shoulders seemed cast in cold granite despite the cheery sunlight. Eventually, it hurt her just looking at them, and she sighed.

"Go on. Let me have it."

WIth no hesitation, Xena turned to her. "What was that?"

"What was what?"

"You had one responsibility! And now those kids are homeless."

Genuine outrage overcame the fog of guilt. "I watched that door all night! Almost up until dawn, Xena! What was I supposed to do when I saw that man dragging Lucilla out of the house in the dark?"

"You were responsible for the shed, not the girl. I trust you to find a way to do what I need you to do, and to tell me if you can't handle that."

Oh, that was rich. Gabrielle thought about the years it had taken her to earn even a modicum of real trust in her skills from Xena. Training every day, working jobs with her, learning techniques and tactics, and, yes, struggling with killing and pacifism before fully embracing her role as a warrior. And then, even then, Gabrielle was sure it would have taken longer to earn the amount of trust she had if Xena hadn't fallen divinely pregnant and needed her more than ever.

Gabrielle threw her hands into the air. "I thought I had it under control! Things come up. I didn't know where they were taking her."

"How long have we been doing this now? We could have found her later; the trial was the _emergency_. She wouldn't have gotten far down the road you knew I was coming up."

So of course now Xena just expected her to get everything right all the time. No concern for context.

"Well excuse me for not being perfect at everything like you! But if I'm so useless, maybe you can cook your own dinner tonight."

"Maybe I will. And good luck catching yours!"

After their fight, they sulked and stomped along in silence most of the day. Lunchtime went by without comment, neither of them apparently hungry, and they only stopped to feed and water the horses. By evening, the frosty ire had melted to dejection and unease. After they finished setting up camp, they lingered awkwardly. Usually, this would be the time to find and make food, but Gabrielle neither wanted to go back on what she'd said nor could she bear to forage and cook without giving Xena any - if she'd even take it. Xena seemed similarly indecisive until a protracted growl filled the gulf between them. Both their eyes widened, and they looked at Gabrielle's stomach.

"Er," tried Gabrielle. Xena slowly opened her mouth, perhaps trying to think of what to say, when her own belly howled its displeasure, and all she could do was cover her face with her palm. They sighed and chuckled, some of the tension broken, and Xena rummaged in their packs for food before throwing half at Gabrielle - the last of their jerky and the remains of a loaf of bread from the night before. They had one more, Gabrielle thought, and some apples left for breakfast before they were truly out of stores.

Gabrielle was still a little angry, but they had been through much, much worse days than this one, so her only concession to it was to go to bed early, exhausted by a lean, emotionally-trying day.

* * *

"And then you even apologized."

"I did?" Xena was looking at her over their pre-dusk fire as their food cooked. They had carefully chosen only the driest wood to avoid smoke and intended to douse it before dark, to better hide their camp.

Gabrielle smirked. "Not with words."

"...Oh!" Xena seemed unsure what to say, but Gabrielle just sank into a wistful smile.

Though they had started on their backs in neighboring bedrolls that night, Xena soon rolled to her side and pressed a tender kiss to Gabrielle's bare shoulder. When it garnered minute relaxation from the bard, Xena ghosted her fingertips down Gabrielle's arm until their hands met. Gabrielle deliberately entwined her fingers with Xena's and squeezed before freeing the hand to explore more. It did so with patience almost akin to laziness until Gabrielle just had to roll toward her lover to kiss and caress her in return. They put spoken language aside to let their bodies communicate apology, affection, and acceptance in their own way. Soft, practiced touches persisted and built until they shuddered in each other's arms, entwined with one another's presence as only soulmates could be. Finally, sleep melted them into a warm, blissed-out puddle without a negative thought between them.

Gabrielle sighed remembering it.

They ate and then doused the fire as the sun sank over the hills. Once they cleaned everything up, they sat in the dark, lost in the sounds of night insects and their own thoughts. Until Xena sighed.

"What is it?" Gabrielle almost whispered.

"Huh? Oh, nothing. Thinkin'. I don't see anything about your Roman domestic drama that would cause you to go back to a younger body." She noted Gabrielle's answering shrug, then was silent for a little while. "And it's just quiet."

"You miss the younger me, don't you?" Gabrielle didn't think her younger self ever let Xena have peace at this time of night, relentlessly asking questions and telling unpolished stories. But she wasn't supposed to tell this Xena most of her stories.

The lack of response was answer enough for the question, and Gabrielle smiled ruefully. "Then you won't be offended if I tell you I miss my Xena."

Wryly, Xena finally spoke, "At least I know someone thinks I improve with age."

"Weeell, I also miss my future body - minus the tricky ankle - and my weapons, my clothes..." They chuckled. "Stand up a second?"

Xena did so, passing through the shadows and starlight in stripes. Gabrielle went to her and gave her a hug. A good one, long, pressed close without being sensual. Xena returned it a little stiffly, but when Gabrielle patted and rubbed her back, the warrior finally relaxed into it, and they soaked up each other's warmth. Before parting, Gabrielle stole a little extra comfort for herself, as well, breathing in her lover's familiar scent.

As they sat back down afterwards, Xena asked, not unkindly, "What was that for?"

Gabrielle exhaled sharply from her nose. "I just wish I'd realized earlier I could do that. Just hug you, really hug you to make you feel better. For practically our first year together, I only dared if you were on the edge of despair."

"I see," Xena said very softly before changing the subject. "One question. Your whole body is like a brazier; how is your nose so damn cold?"

Gabrielle snickered. "You'll get used to it. Hey, if I can't talk about the future, how about a story from the past? Did you ever learn about the primordial deities? I hadn't yet, in this time."

"Like the Titans?"

"Like the oldest Titans. It all started with Chaos..."

* * *

"In the morning, I didn't even let them start the trial. Once it came to order, I walked in and told everyone to listen up."

"Dramatic timing." Gabrielle was preparing the ground for a good camp and fire while Xena tended their horses and finished her long tale.

"Warlords and bards know that timing is everything. Anyway, Livius told me to siddown, but instead I told him I wasn't Xenia, the bounty hunter-"

"I still can't believe you picked Xenia."

Xena seemed to suppress a smile as she resumed, "-but Xena, the warrior who, it turned out, they had heard of."

"Ooh."

"And they demanded to know: If I was Xena, where was the Battling Bard of Potidaea?"

It didn't sink in right away, but Xena's silence was a clue Gabrielle had missed something. She eventually squeaked, "Me?" Battling bard? People in Rome talking about Potidaea? Wild!

"You. It was the perfect opening to tell them we had found the stolen goods and that you were guarding them." Xena explained a little more of the courtroom drama before rushing along to the walk to the administrator's residence.

The more Gabrielle listened to her and studied her storytelling style, the more it made her smile. When describing timing and the movements of her characters, she spoke with military precision, but conversational details were lackadaisical at best. For all that, she made sure to describe her feelings and hunches, which kept things engaging, and when she spoke about Gabrielle, she was the most animated of all.

Gabrielle's musings fled as Xena described the scenes at the residence and the shed. Had Gabrielle seriously let everything be taken away while she ran down a cart that wasn't going anywhere? She was thinking she was lucky she didn't get run over when Xena explained Lucilla's proclamation.

"Wait, wait. So Dago, Lucilla, Katu, and Livius were all waiting for a night Manta was out of town - the first three so they could sneak around, the last one to frame the two men for a crime?"

Xena finished brushing out her horse's coat, then turned and shrugged. "Could be. Maybe Livius was also waiting for them to leave a tool behind to incriminate them, or he just wanted them to finish working on his place. And no telling whether that was the first time the kids had some elaborate scheme to make time."

"What a mess."

"Yep. Anyway, it wasn't our worst disaster, but all of us got run outta town except Manta, who decided to leave anyway. Half the town breathing down our necks while we got our horses and helped the kids pack up what they could. They went north, and we kept on south like we had been. Without the flour and salt we stopped there to buy in the first place. We were, ah, pretty quiet the rest of the day, but we got over it by bedtime."

"And I… asked you to sleep with me, you said?" Gabrielle wasn't sure why she asked, once she had, but the thought had tumbled through her mind all day. Just… asking Xena to sleep with her. What a concept.

"Not in that many words." Xena grinned, and Gabrielle felt herself blush, causing Xena to soften her smile. "We were tired, so it wasn't exactly rambunctious, but I'm glad we did that. I'd hate to have ended the night before… _this _on a fight."

Once they set up camp and had food cooking, Xena laid a hand on Gabrielle's shoulder and said, "Hey, exercise with me. That body is going to be buzzing like a bee half the night if you don't do something."

"What, really?"

"After walking and riding on nice Roman roads all day, and not even one fight, just a jog? Yeah. Move it, kiddo." She slapped the shoulder lightly, and Gabrielle stood as she was bid, bemused.

It turned out better than expected, though, and she had to marvel at how strong and limber she had turned out to be. The jog earlier had been one thing - not effortless, especially since she didn't quite have the rhythm of this more mature, muscled body yet, but sustainable for a startlingly long time. It had showcased an endurance she had always hoped this rough travel would give her. But tonight Xena had her using her body to weigh down long holds and contortions until her muscles felt wrung-out and shaky, Xena always keeping an eye on her and using her hands to reposition when she felt it necessary.

"Don't need you hurting yourself because I let you do yoga wrong; I'll never hear the end of it."

Before they went to bed, now clean and fed, Gabrielle spoke, "Hey. I don't remember it yet, but sorry about yesterday. Sounds like it was my fault those kids got exiled."

"Gabrielle," Xena admonished lightly before pulling her into a comforting hug. "Your heart was in the right place. Never feel bad for protecting people, okay? It's not as if we had time to get any more information than we had; we hardly even slept." Which probably hadn't helped their tempers.

Gabrielle nodded against Xena's chest, and then, when she wasn't pushed away or let go, found herself worming in closer. More points of contact with Xena, more warmth, and... She always wanted to be close to Xena; it was just how she showed affection. But previously, she mostly held off, not wanting to put the warrior off or, worse, get herself sent home for being too annoying. So she had no idea it could feel like this. With a deep breath of Xena's unique combination of scents, a blanket of calm settled over her.

"It's like my body craves you," Gabrielle said into Xena's night shift, then blushed. Why couldn't she control her mouth tonight? She lifted her head to peek at Xena's face.

A wide grin slowly overtook it, and for the first time since the start of this mess, her eyes twinkled with something like mischief. "Now that's a compliment."

Soft-eyed and smiling, Xena rubbed Gabrielle's back and gave the back of her neck a little scratch, and the stiffness of embarrassment melted away. Xena continued, "And it's mutual. You can't remember now, but some part of you knows we belong-… remembers how close we are."

Ironically emboldened by Xena's self-censorship, Gabrielle pressed, "We were… sleeping together, you said. And I'm your…" She stumbled on word choice while looking up into Xena's patient face.

"My wife, yes, and I'm yours. But, sweetheart, you don't have to worry about that right now. We went through a lot before we got together and much, much more since. I wouldn't expect… anything from you." Her eyes shuttered over some pain Gabrielle couldn't guess, and one hand started petting along her head. It was soothing, and Gabrielle leaned into her a little more heavily.

"Are we always close like this? Touching?" She didn't mean it in a bad way, but Xena looked away self-consciously and put her hand on Gabrielle's back.

"Maybe not this much. You like to call me an old mother hen when you're sick. Usually when you're almost better and getting real tired of me."

Gabrielle smiled. "But I like the attention when I don't feel good, huh?"

Xena returned the grin. "You're a regular pleasure-hound if you think I have time to spoil you."

"Will you…" Gabrielle hesitated, but only a moment. Xena's proximity intoxicated her. "Kiss me?" If she was already Xena's wife, it was okay, right?

Xena responded quietly, "If you want, I'd like that."

All Gabrielle could do was tip up her chin. Xena didn't leave her waiting; she pressed a soft, chaste kiss to Gabrielle's lips that nonetheless lingered before they pulled back to meet each other's eyes again.

Gabrielle briefly bit her lower lip, which tingled along with every place Xena was touching her. "Is that how you usually kiss me?"

A slight smile met the question. "No." Xena leaned down again and gently took Gabrielle's bottom lip between her own, toying with it before kissing her soundly. They traded liplocks until an absentminded sigh of pleasure escaped the younger woman; then Xena employed a light lick to gain entrance to Gabrielle's mouth. Gabrielle yielded completely, and Xena plundered with confidence, drawing out a pleasured hum which prompted a gratified hum in return.

It was an absolute cacophony of new sensations, and Gabrielle was glad to already be leaning against the warrior. Fire lanced through her body, pooling low and pressing her further into the kiss. When they finally separated, she could only pant and blink up at Xena at first.

"That… no boy has ever kissed me like that."

Xena smirked. "As far as I know, I'm a little more experienced than any of your boys. And I know your body," now she ran the back of her fingers from Gabrielle's temple, down her cheek, and along the column of her throat, "better than I know my own, by now."

Suddenly, Gabrielle couldn't see her inhibitions through the haze of want. "...D-do you… Should we maybe try-"

"Aaand it's not fair for me to use that." Xena suddenly looked chagrined at herself. "You're so young, in your head. I shouldn't touch you like that."

"Not even to try jogging a memory?"

That earned a soft laugh. "Maybe after we try some other things first. Don't think I don't want you, but we've got the rest of our lives together. Let's keep it to kissing for now, huh?"

They shared another kiss, and Xena nuzzled her neck playfully before letting her go. Gods, it felt so right. Gabrielle would never have imagined.

And somehow, she was supposed to sleep after that. The pair of them lay on furs not quite an arm's length apart, Xena on her back, Gabrielle facing her on her left side.

She wanted to touch Xena more. To hold her, to feel that intense energy concentrated on her, to lose herself in it.

Gabrielle was realizing that, for all that she was fuzzy on the details it would entail, she wanted to have sex with Xena. She took that thought and just held it up, judging its weight and shape. True? After that kiss... yes, she was pretty certain. Good? Probably, since they were married. A surprise? Weird? After turning them over in her mind a while, she decided she would have to think more on both of those questions.

So she set those thoughts aside and indulged her want for Xena's attention. "You know, Xena, you're my best friend, but I didn't realize you could be so sweet."

Xena rolled her head to the right. "Sweet?" Her nose wrinkled.

A giggle. "Cuddly."

Xena looked back up at the treetops. "Eh, you met me at a very… restrained time in my life. Truth is, I've always been pretty physical, and a lifetime spent with warriors didn't change that. Even the ones that like you and aren't out to bed you are as likely to greet you with a headlock as a hello."

"That...makes sense." She fell quiet, and Xena affixed her with a searching look.

"And… I'm not sure any other partners would use the word 'cuddly' for me, but you... I've been without you enough I don't hesitate to touch you when you're here. It's... nice."

Gabrielle had to smile. "It is."

Xena held out her nearer hand, and Gabrielle laid her right hand in it. Before she could even appreciate the warmth of the touch, Xena shook up all the butterflies in her stomach by pulling it in for a kiss on its back, then laid the joined hands between them. Floating several handspan above her bedroll, Gabrielle certainly didn't retreat from the loose grip, and they drifted off to sleep.

Gabrielle later woke with a twitch, sensing a presumptuous touch. But the world lay still around her, and it took several moments of peering in dim starlight to resolve the scene into a picture: A deeply asleep Xena, now rolled on her right side, held their joined hands against the bridge of her nose and had flung her left hand out toward Gabrielle. Thanks to the distance, it had slid down her rib cage to rest somewhat saucily against the front of her torso.

Xena shivered, and Gabrielle had to take some time to reckon with just how gods-damned cute this was. She never could have imagined a future for herself where she had a big, scary wife who got cold in her sleep and ineffectually reached out to snuggle it away.

There was a blanket right there, settled around Xena's hips, but Gabrielle couldn't dream of pulling her hand out of Xena's, so she set the one under her head to awkwardly maneuvering the covering back into place. Then she gingerly lifted Xena's left wrist, scooted a little closer, and settled it on a less distracting part of her ribcage.

Sensing a handful of warmth, Xena pulled their bodies closer and caused Gabrielle to have to swallow a squeak. But she settled at last, no longer shivering and her arm apparently more comfortable at its new angle. All Gabrielle could do was roll her eyes with new affection and go back to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6: Doubt and Friction

**Chapter Six: Doubt and Friction**

On that second morning in her past body, Morpheus gifted Gabrielle a fond memory for a dream, and she basked in it gladly. _Near the end of the hedonistic first few weeks of her and Xena's relationship, she lay sunning herself dry beside a wide, cool stream. A sheet of linen protected her skin from a cushion of scratchy grasses, and between the warmth of the sun, the remaining damp on her skin, and the cool breeze, she thought she might float away in bliss._

_Until something large and wet occluded the sun's rays and pressed against her lips. She opened her eyes to confirm what her mouth was telling her, only to have water immediately splatter into them._

_"Xena!" Gabrielle wiped her eyes and tried to shoot her lover a glare through her smile. "What was that for?"_

_Xena paused in her saunter to smirk back at Gabrielle, dripping and glinting in the sunlight. The bard's mind started working at adjectives for the sight, especially at this angle - gazing up at curves and muscle in all the right places - but she still managed to hear the flippant, "Felt like it."_

Statuesque, exquisite, delectable..._ Gabrielle's voice was huskier than she expected when she said, "Come back here, and I'll tell you what you feel like."_

_The smirk widened to a grin, and Xena did as she was bid. She settled over Gabrielle but hovered there, not quite touching. Her hair no longer dripped as much, but she still smelled like stream water along with her own addictive, unmistakable scent. "Yeah? Tell me, then."_

_Gabrielle tried to kiss her, but she pulled away, and their eyes met. Above the teasing, smirking expression - and how wonderful was it to be past the initial shyness and caution and onto this? - Xena's eyes were unexpectedly wide and interested. _She wants to hear me say it… is that something she likes? To hear me talk while we..?

_This time, Gabrielle tilted her head and slowly licked water droplets off the elegant neck above her, and Xena let her. Blushing, she managed to say, "Well, first- you taste almost as good as you feel."_

"_Yeah?" Xena asked somewhat breathily even as she started to trail a hand up Gabrielle's side. Emboldened, Gabrielle reached up for her with both hands._

"Gabrielle, time to get up." Xena's voice pulled Gabrielle most of the way out of her doze, but she didn't open her eyes. An automatic scan of her senses - Xena sounding relaxed, the sounds and smells of the outdoors undisturbed by smelly bandits or wolves, the lack of water or excessive heat on her skin - raised no alarm in her, so she just rolled onto her back.

Audibly drowsy, she nonetheless managed a suggestive tone to ask, "Counteroffer: How 'bout you c'mere and finish the dream you interrupted?" She smiled as Xena's footsteps slid through the leaves toward her.

Until a hand double-patted her cheek just barely sharp enough to smart. Her eyes opened to take in a younger version of her spouse crouching with a raised eyebrow and an otherwise flat expression.

"I take it you're still you from the future."

Gabrielle's eyes doubled in size, and her hands flew up to cover her nose and mouth. "Oh no, honey, I'm sorry. I mean, Xena… aaarrgh." The muffling hands slid up to cover her eyes instead. "I wouldn't have come onto you like that if I remembered where I was. When I am."

Miraculously, Xena chuckled. "Don't worry about it; I've had worse offers. But c'mon, let's get moving."

Gabrielle peeked through her fingers to see Xena turning away. A silent sigh of relief preceded her rolling easily to her feet - or trying. "Ow."

Xena didn't say anything, just glanced over.

Gabrielle stretched and checked herself over with growing consternation. "Sore. I'm sore?!" So what if she had the good fortune to catch Xena in a good mood and thus tolerant of her impropriety - she was still stuck in the past, had no decent clothing, had no weapons, and she was _sore_. "From what, taking out one and a half bandits and walking all day?!"

From Argo's side, Xena commented, "Of course you're sore. Since you left home, all you do for exercise is walk, do camp chores, and maybe do farmwork for barter. And then yesterday you insisted on a bunch of twisting and rolling."

Gabrielle couldn't hear that much smugness in Xena's tone, but she grumbled darkly anyway, mostly at herself. Then she cleared her mind as best she could and used very basic yoga to work some kinks out of her muscles. Xena did a double-take but looked almost afraid to ask about it, and Gabrielle wasn't about to bring up India.

* * *

"Hey, Xena?" A younger Gabrielle waited until an older Xena paused in packing up gear to turn her way. "I was looking through my bags, and I found something I can't recognize. Can you tell me what this is?"

Xena froze and just blinked at the tangled object now held just above Gabrielle's satchel.

"...Xena? Are you actually blushing?"

The warrior tried to come up with a response while a memory flashed through her mind.

* * *

After one cautious and teasing but still-earnest conversation with her lover, Xena had designed, then crafted the harness mostly out of scavenged buckles and leather straps, plus obsessively-smoothed wood.

So there she was on its first outing, positioned above her ready, eager partner, whose legs were hitched up on her hips (the traditional position had _seemed_ like a good idea at the time). And said partner was biting her lip in some mixture of anticipation and amusement as Xena tried to aim her new tool properly. She had started to think scented oils would have been a better choice for spicing up their love life when she finally managed to find the angle that allowed her to let go of the shaft and slide home.

"Ooh!" squeaked Gabrielle. "It's cold."

Xena responded with an unconvincing, "Sorry," as her consternation gave way to satisfaction. Who needed scented oils? She knew this would work.

Gabrielle made eye contact with her, twitched her eyebrow, and started snickering. "You look-" she giggled, hands spasming with mirth on Xena's shoulders, "so proud!"

If any previous lover had laughed at Xena in a situation like this, she would have hurt them, and not necessarily in a kinky way. But tangled here with Gabrielle, she smiled softly at the head ducking to laugh into her chest.

"Think this is funny, do ya? Me struggling with something even the stupidest man can do?"

Each question set off fresh peels of laughter and a shake of the head, firelight glinting off golden, bedroll-tousled locks.

"Don't worry," Gabrielle finally managed to say. "Just wait until I'm wearing that thing and trying to climb Mount Xena."

Xena spluttered and had to drop her head onto Gabrielle's shaking shoulder until the hilarity worked its way through them both.

Eventually, she did start to move inside her partner, who let out a delighted sigh. She even started to utilize the hand her new tool left free, trailing experimentally along Gabrielle's hitched thigh. But something didn't feel right. A noticeable twinge set into Xena's back - right when a guttural moan came from Gabrielle.

To chase that sound, Xena was willing to commit and suffer depraved, twisted acts. So in the face of a little pain, she simply threw caution aside, kissed her lover's neck, and soldiered through.

And, later, let a guilty-but-satisfied Gabrielle pamper her with back rubs by their cheery fire.

* * *

Xena cleared her throat as she stared at their toy, long since altered and then remade to sit at a better angle, among other reasons. Then she met Gabrielle's eyes and spoke gently. "It's a tool you and I occasionally use. Together. When we're alone."

Bewildered, Gabrielle took the harness in both hands to hold it out, dubiously eyeing the placement of the wood piece before comprehension dawned alongside a flaming blush. Then she crammed the object back into her satchel.

Xena smiled just a little sadly, sparing a wistful thought for the easy intimacy of that day long past. This was still funny, at least. "I guess your memory stops before you saw the really wild scrolls that are out there. You know, until you showed me some you found in Athens, I never knew reading - or diagrams - could be so interesting."

Gabrielle covered her face with her hands but let out a theatrical groan, and Xena chuckled.

"Anyway, relax. I told you not to worry about all of that stuff."

Gabrielle nodded before taking her hands away from her face, and then she just stared off to the side. Not seeming upset, just with some residual flush to her cheeks and distraction fogging her gaze. Was she imagining some scenario or desperately trying not to?

Xena changed the subject with a fond smile, "Were you looking for your scrolls when you dug that out?" After Gabrielle's nod, she continued, "You don't have all your original copies with you, but maybe we can look over what you have when we stop for lunch." She paused. "If the temple doesn't help."

A little later, Gabrielle trailed Xena as they walked their horses in silence. Xena felt pretty good about suggesting they walk awhile once she saw the relief on her companion's face, and anyway it was good for clearing the mind.

Worry had started to seep in as they neared the Mnemosyne temple. Was she doing the right thing? Discussion of using Gabrielle's own scrolls to rebuild her memories reminded her of their last visit to a Mnemosyne temple, after which Joxer attempted to do the same. Before that trip, Gabrielle's memories had relentlessly tormented her, and Xena wanted so desperately to help... In light of that comparison, the current situation started to morph from a problem she simply had to solve to a moral quandary, and she didn't have enough information to figure it out.

From her perspective, the two of them randomly woke up to Gabrielle having amnesia, but what if Gabrielle felt so underappreciated two days ago she'd gone to bed with her one final, tender time before erasing the last several years on purpose?

As soon as the thought voiced itself in her head, she scoffed it away. Gabrielle would never do that. If the bard finally had enough of her cantankerous spouse, she would damn well make herself heard about it, not slip off in the dead of night.

That was more Xena's style.

...Could this be revenge for going after Grendel alone? Again, no, of course not. Right? After all this time?

A smaller hand slipped into hers and squeezed. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Just…" She stopped walking and turned to meet green eyes. "Gabrielle, no matter what happens, I love you. If you never get your memory back, we'll just start over."

Gabrielle smiled, though still obviously concerned. "Thank you. But it's not really starting over, you know. I remember who you are and why I followed you out of Potidaea."

"Right. And we've had a lot of happiness together that I wouldn't give up for anything, but we've also had..._so_ much pain, Gabrielle. If you don't want it back, I'll respect that. And if you decide you want to make a different life instead-" Xena had to pause to steady the words. "I'll respect that, too."

"Hey." Gabrielle let go of her horse to step closer, and Xena released her own. "I know I only remember the first few moons with you, but it was more than enough to convince me you're incredible. You dazzled me pretty much every day. And this last day, you- I've been happy, Xena, I…" Gabrielle glanced to the side, blushing slightly. "I think I can see why I married you."

The weight on Xena's chest lifted a little, and she gathered Gabrielle up in a hug, planting a firm kiss on her temple in the process. As she squeezed, she said, "Sweetheart, I'd stay with you if you lost all four limbs. If you forgot your own name. If you started wearing mud pies for hats."

Gabrielle breathed a laugh into her neck. "That's a relief to hear, Xena, because I'm still kind of scared about what did this."

"Whatever it was, we'll face it together. That's what partners do."

* * *

Years before that, on a dusty, rocky Greek road, a younger Xena half-listened to a grumpy Gabrielle from horseback. This future version of her traveling companion definitely had precious little patience for both Xena and for her current self, evidenced by her rolling, grumbling tirade about her body, her clothes, her shoes, and Xena's smirk.

"...be smug about me being sore… like we're all born knowing how to flip…"

But Xena mused that she wasn't all bad. For one thing, watching her nearly die of embarrassment that morning had been a great start to the day. It even evoked the younger Gabrielle's most endearing awkwardness. Their peaceful night in the dark chill, warmed by stories and that lengthy hug, had also been pleasant. And this Gabrielle had some skills and knowledge that might come in handy, if she could remember what reasonable caution was.

Plus when Xena looked down at the bobbing blonde head, she thought that, on balance, the crankiness was kind of amusing. Since this Gabrielle could somehow still speak of her like the sun set on her pauldrons, as she had when describing her future self's arrival to that cursed Roman vineyard, it didn't bother her overmuch she could also glare at her or look at her like she'd sat in mud and asked for a spoon. After years on the road together, it only made sense, and anyway, she was cute when she was mad. She even stomped a little.

The section of road they were on, a few hours' ride past the copse of trees that sheltered them the night before, straddled a bit of flat ground and a hillside strewn with boulders and rocks. Ahead lay a dip in the adjacent hillside and the rise of the next one around a bend, leaving a shaded crevice to their right. Tall grasses and a few trees stood to their left. Xena's eyes narrowed, and she slowed as they approached the crevice. Gabrielle went silent at her side.

A slight scraping sound from the hillside was all that saved Argo, as four men clad in greens, browns, and linen ran out from the crevice to block their way - and two crossbow bolts simultaneously came from the boulders to their right. Xena intercepted one a foot away from a golden flank and caught the other about two thumbs away from the horse's rounded cheek. Then she drew her sword, instantly furious, and charged up the hill with a yell.

She knew the bowmen to be the immediate threat; three men from the crevice held only a rope net between them, and all four had their melee weapons stowed on their belts. Anyway, Gabrielle had tall grass to hide in. Xena ran one bowman down and cleaved his hand from his wrist before it could finish reloading the crossbow. She then knocked him unconscious with an almost negligent swipe of the flat of her blade, vaguely noting the green half cloak over his shoulder.

Behind her, Gabrielle yelled, "Are you boys looking to catch people or rustle sheep? My dad made a better net when he had the ague!"

Another sword swipe deflected a bolt from the remaining bowman, and Xena cast a glance back to see what the hades Gabrielle was doing. Which, of course, was making rude gestures at the net-holding men and their friend, goading them to come after her.

The remaining bowman wasn't far, but it was awkward for Argo, so Xena flipped off her back to land on top of him. He hit his head on the nearby boulder on the way down, so he was out.

"Xena!"

The net flew through the air toward her companion, but Xena was already moving, throwing her chakram to shred it so Gabrielle could step forward and thread a new gap in the rope as it settled on the ground around her feet.

Then she grinned and booked it toward Xena on the hillside.

The four men drew swords and maces and ran after her, and Xena sighed as Gabrielle ran past with a cheeky, "Thanks, knew I could count on you!" Chakram again in hand, Xena sent it out to knock one man's own mace handle into his face and lay him out and disarm another man before they were on her.

The two armed men challenged her slightly more than she expected; their training exceeded that of the average road bandit. More like that of organized raiders. It helped when Gabrielle started throwing rocks to nail them when Xena could make an opening by pushing them away from herself. But then the disarmed one picked up the unconscious one's mace and ran for Gabrielle.

He was out of Xena's reach, but she ducked a sword, gutted its owner, spun the swordsman by his collar to catch a fatal mace blow, punched the mace wielder over the swordsman's shoulder with her hilt, and finally spun in time to throw her sword, penetrating the back of Gabrielle's attacker.

A certain animal part of her took gratification from his evident physical and mental shock - arms thrown up, mace dropped, staggering before he fell. That is until she looked at Gabrielle, who stood by a waist-high boulder a body length away from him, with a large stone in her hand and a look of sheer horror on her face.

"You- you didn't have to kill him!" Gabrielle's gaze shifted from the prone figure to Xena as she shouted.

Perplexed, Xena strode up to retrieve her sword and wipe it on the dead man's badly-dyed, green tunic. "Gabrielle, he was about to kill you."

"No, he wasn't! Xena, even this body isn't that slow! I had cover and stones."

Xena blinked. "You're my responsibility; he isn't."

Gabrielle shook her head sadly, again looking at the body, and Xena growled. What was her problem now?

"He was a scumbag, Gabrielle. I'm not taking chances on your behalf for the likes of him." She shouldn't even have to explain that.

But Gabrielle was looking at the sky, throwing out her hands in agitated punctuation. "This whole thing is a punishment, isn't it? From some god, for not appreciating what my Xena and I have?" She turned her gaze on the younger Xena, anguish writ in the clench of her jaw and the furrow of her brow. "For you, or me, or both of us taking it for granted? You know, it figures we wouldn't even have to go to bed angry to wake up with some curse about it. And now this man paid for it." She gestured curtly at the very dead bandit.

Xena was dumbfounded, uncharacteristically sputtering, "Wha- y- Are you mad I gutted the other one, too?!"

Gabrielle took a deep breath, then another, then shook her head a little more calmly. "No, Xena. I'm not going to judge who you kill while defending yourself; you don't judge me when I do the same. And I know we both avoid it when we can. But this kill wasn't necessary. And that's on me."

"What?" She does the same? Killing? Gabrielle? Her fault? Killing?!

"I damn well know you treat me like a witless pet at this age. Just… let's move on and tend to the living ones. From now on, I'll try to stay back unless you really need someone at your back."

Grasping at something she could actually counter, Xena protested, "Pet? Gabrielle, you're not-"

"I know, honey," Gabrielle cut her off with a gentle tone that stopped her cold. "You're teaching young me a lot around now, and I'm lucky to hear it. It'll earn you a good partner someday."

What on earth was Xena supposed to say to all that? Gabrielle wasn't a pet. She was a friend, one of very few and the only one she was willing to travel with on a consistent basis. And this older version was infantilizing her - but also so upset, which Xena instinctually did not like to see.

So she half-glared at the vexing woman before her and grumbled, "You're my companion, not a pet. Any pet of mine would listen better, for one. But I'd kill the likes of him for any dog, so don't get upset about me doing it for you."

Gabrielle raised an eyebrow and opened her mouth, only to blink at something she saw behind Xena. Spinning around revealed a dust cloud just visible around the last bend in the road. In its wake walked about eight armed men and two carts.


	7. Chapter 7: Mnemosyne and New Plans

**Chapter Seven: Mnemosyne and New Plans**

Once again on horseback, it didn't take long for the road before the older Xena and younger Gabrielle to become a path, then a poorly-maintained trail. But since Xena thought it still looked man-made, and it matched their directions, they rode along it single-file.

Gabrielle found she did not mind the opportunity to study her partner. She had always liked looking at her, but now it felt a lot harder to stop. The movement of muscle under the skin of her shoulders and back mesmerized, as did the bobbing of the rest of her while Argo clopped along. And though Gabrielle couldn't see Xena's face, she reflected on the changes she had noticed from where her memory cut off until now. The warrior looked older, sure, a little, as she herself probably did, but Xena had become so vibrant! Gabrielle drank in every glance laden with affection, melancholy, mischief, or especially the hunger she had seen the previous night, before their kiss. The good one.

Although then Xena had pulled back…

"How are you doing back there? Rex have any good stories for you?"

Gabrielle looked down at her horse, then up at Xena. "Uh, is butt pain a story?"

"Come on, your body's acclimated to horseback, even if you forgot."

"Yeah, I guess I don't hurt today like I expected. I still don't think I'm doing it right, though."

Xena cheerily suggested, "If you wanna be sure, we can canter a while. No, let's gallop. If you're doing it wrong, you'll fall right off, and we can start over. C'mon." She shifted her weight to lean forward and nearly hover over Argo's saddle, gathering the reins in her hands.

"What- No, Xena!" The edge of panic shone in Gabrielle's voice, and Xena sat right back down and back.

She turned to give a perturbed little frown. "I was only teasing, Gabrielle. Didn't mean to…" She trailed off and turned her head, cocking it to listen for something.

Gabrielle just rode along, watching her, until the underbrush ahead exploded with brown, black, and white fur. Wolves, rangy ones with impossibly large fangs, pounced toward their horses, and suddenly Gabrielle was falling. Air fled her lungs as she landed on her back, her big gelding whinnying and rearing up in front of her. Her left eye spotted a sharp rock just an inch away that surely would have split her head open if she had landed on it.

While she struggled to take a breath, her horse staggered back in fear and almost stepped on her leg. Gabrielle scrambled back from the crazed animal while, on some level, marveling at her good luck, only to see fangs and yellow eyes coming at her from the side.

A golden, hooved savior blocked the wolf's way, startling it, and Xena jumped down from her saddle to attack it. She also gave a peculiar whistle, which seemed to calm Rex a little.

"Guard her, Argo." Then she was flipping, slicing, and even stalking the creatures while they stalked her through the undergrowth, until the survivors ran away. The horses on either side of Gabrielle reared and struck out with their hooves the few times a wolf came their way, but the smaller Xena attracted the most attention.

In the end, three wolves lay strewn along the path, and Xena picked at some shredded bits of leather which had guarded her thighs. Her left arm had a weeping scrape, and Gabrielle recalled the limb just barely escaping the clamp of monstrous jaws. The animals themselves had too-prominent ribs, now either frozen or shuddering to a stop.

"Are you all right?" Gabrielle asked, heart finally descending from her throat.

Xena glanced back at her, sniffed, and nodded. "Fine. You?" She swung and wrenched her sword to a stop to splatter the blood on nearby foliage, then wiped the remainder off on some leaves.

"I'm fine, thanks to you." Gabrielle pet her now-calming horse's neck, glancing at him when he whuffed at her shoulder as if in apology. "And to these two. Can I clean that cut for you?"

Xena examined the carcasses and sighed, noticeably aggrieved. "Yeah, sure. But after that, we should skin these three. They're thin, but not sickly or patchy." She looked at Gabrielle. "Jobless vagrants can't turn down valuable furs. Even with stab holes in 'em."

"No, I guess we can't. I'm sorry I couldn't help you with them, though, I-..." She trailed off, and Xena cocked her head at her. "By Haphaestus' beard, I thought I-" Xena's eyebrows flew up, "I mean I hoped something like this would jog my memory. The excitement of a fight, I mean. At least enough to stay ahorse and off my back."

Xena countered her disgusted tone with a mild one. "Whatever spell that has you is probably very good is all. Don't worry about it." She began to gather the carcasses in a row on a flatter section of trail, and Gabrielle got linen and water to address the cut. Her fault, for not being able to help, she was sure.

As Gabrielle cleaned the wound, Xena rhythmically tapped her own knee with the fingers of her free hand and said, "I'll skin. Did I teach you to scrape hide yet?"

"I did that with sheepskin at home."

"Oh yeah. Good. Let's get to it." She pulled away the moment Gabrielle finished. Gabrielle set up for scraping, and Xena skinned. And was so fast she ended up doing half the scraping and moving all the carcasses off the path, besides.

"That'll do. We can work on these more tonight and sell them on at the next town, with any luck."

"Y-yeah." After she and Xena cleaned the blood off themselves, Gabrielle remounted her horse with unexpectedly shaky knees. Part of her found it scary to hop onto something that had just thrown her off, for all that Rex's friendly headbutts and docility indicated he didn't mean it.

Xena was waiting when she mounted and moved off immediately, seeming a little twitchy. "That's enough wasted daylight."

It stung. She was clearly in a hurry to get Gabrielle's memory back, as Gabrielle herself should be. And was, right beside a feeling of… what was it? Disappointment? She contemplated the red-spattered foliage at the side of the path. No, it was that _she _was a disappointment. The younger Xena of her working memories, for all her gruffness and stoicism, had expected precious little from her beyond companionship and basic chores. But this one, her sweet and solicitous partner, was transparently missing everything she could usually be counted on to do, whether she would admit it or not. It felt disconcertingly awful, and worse for every moment she watched Xena pick up her slack without complaint.

She had disappointed Xena before, but she never felt like Xena blamed her more than she blamed herself for any mistake or transgression. Meanwhile, this one was disappointed, and Gabrielle couldn't actually _do _any better! She bit back a sigh and rode along in quiet.

* * *

"Do those look like soldiers or more bandits?" an older Gabrielle asked.

The younger Xena took a moment to gratefully note how quickly her companion pivoted to business, away from their spat regarding the slain bandit. Didn't seem to be going anywhere anyway. "Doesn't matter, since they've spotted us, but I think I see breastplates. These guys are in ring and leather. And green, which I also don't see."

"Well, either way, let's sort out these six. I'll get ropes and bandages." They got to work managing their living prisoners in a silence interrupted only by, "You cut that guy's hand off?!"

The answer was a blunt, "Yeah." Xena was already tending to it; Gabrielle had seen it over her shoulder.

"Why didn't you say so? I need to make a fire!" She didn't seem judgmental, Xena noted, just surprised.

In fact, though Xena kept waiting for a barb about her bloodthirstiness, a glare, or even a sad sigh in her direction, none came. It gave her plenty of time to mull over the necessity of her most recent kill until the men and their carts arrived.

It turned out to be seven town guards, along with Milo the bowyer at the head of a mostly empty cart pulled by his stocky, grey horse. The other cart looked like it held provisions and camping supplies, plus probably weapons. All had set out to look for the green-clad bandits terrorizing the road.

"When I told them about my boy and his wife, taken so close to town, they started putting together a posse right away. Didn't expect to put prisoners in my cart this fast, though." Milo looked at the tied, unconscious men and scratched his head near the bandage he still wore.

"Any of them familiar?" Xena asked, but after a long moment, Milo shook his head.

"No, but it was all a blur yesterday. They're dressed right, I can tell you that."

"You two really did all this by yourselves? No injuries?" The town guard who had spoken to them before stood agog, still marveling at their handiwork while the rest of the guards helped finish a pyre for the slain bandit.

"We get a lot of practice," Gabrielle breezed. A smear of blood not-her-own leant her visage an air of savagery, and her no-nonsense tone drew the men's respectful attention. "The question is, how are there so many bandits a day outside your walls without you knowing about it? You told us these were far-off rumors before."

"My friend here is asking the right questions. Do you even patrol?"

"Yes! We're a trading town. We host the biggest market in the region every Spring. We absolutely try to keep our roads clear at all times."

"Then I have an answer for her: You have a spy."

Scandalized protests came in response, but Xena just barked at the men to, "Shut yer traps." Sweet silence.

"If this is the first you've heard of or seen these guys preying on this road, it's likely at least one person in your town, maybe even one of you seven, is in cahoots with the bandits. Milo here is probably just the first survivor to escape and tell the rest of you."

Ignoring further protests, Xena strode over to the unconscious prisoners, eyed their slack expressions, and hauled one up by his collar. He stayed limp, so she leaned him forward, knees on the ground, and dropped him so his face would impact the packed dust of the road.

He caught himself as best he could with tied hands, then froze and opened his eyes in horror. He began to scramble away, but Xena hefted him to his knees again and put the pinch on him.

"I've cut off the flow of blood to your brain. You've got thirty seconds to live unless you talk." She gave the man a few seconds to struggle in dawning panic. "Are you slavers?"

"No!"

"Running low on time, buddy."

"We're not slavers yet! Got- g-got stock, looking for more, waiting on a buyer!"

"And how much 'stock' came from this area?"

"F-f-four hauls?"

Xena released the pinch and let the man slump to the ground, chest heaving. The soldiers and Milo were giving her looks of respect and fear, but Gabrielle seemed almost nonchalant.

"You heard him. They're running roughshod over your roads, and you had no clue." A patrol turning a regular blind eye or someone just leaking a patrolling schedule would let a lot of scumbags run amok.

"Well, what do you expect us to do about that right now?"

"Nothing, literally. Stay here. Guard each other and these yahoos. Care for their wounds. Do a headcount every hour, and otherwise just enjoy the night out of town. Gabrielle and I will go after the slavers."

Protests arose, but Gabrielle backed her up without hesitation. "We can't trust any of you. And in any case, they'll probably hole up for a siege if they see half a legion of townies coming their way."

"But-"

"And then who knows what they would do to the people they have? Xena and I can sneak in close and take care of it from there. If it's too much for the two of us, we'll come back and bring you in."

A guard asked, "But won't they miss these scum?"

Xena snorted. "They're bandits, not children; they don't come home every night." Though she could only hope that was true and they weren't due for a check-in. Probably, they were meant to linger in the area after the last haul and return if they found anything.

She dismissed the guard's arguments as easily as turning back toward her hapless source. "Now tell me about this buyer."

The bandit looked up at her then shifted his eyes to Gabrielle… and held them there.

* * *

As the older Xena and younger Gabrielle approached Mnemosyne's temple, Xena's muscles wanted to twitch through her skin with the eagerness to get it - whatever it would be - over with. But that didn't keep her from noticing how withdrawn Gabrielle had gotten. After mulling it over, she decided it probably wasn't the temple visit getting to her; they had talked about that.

"Hey, you okay?"

"'M fine. Don't worry about me."

"That's kind of my job, Gabrielle." She delivered it lightly, but Gabrielle frowned.

"I know I'm useless, Xena; we're almost there. Hopefully we can fix it."

Xena blinked. Then thought about the day so far. The ribbing, the fight where Gabrielle fell off her horse and did not-much-else… Xena's own sighing as she did double duty on horse care… Crap.

She had probably hurt her newly-immature spouse's feelings. Which Xena supposed was understandable seeing as Gabrielle had forgotten everything she knew about how to put up with her. What salty-old-warlord grumpiness to let slide off her back. Not that Gabrielle didn't get snippy sometimes, before the amnesia, but then they would either work up to a fight and get through it, or the initially cranky one would take a hint and back off. Now Gabrielle was functionally five steps out of her parents' house, intermittently overconfident and incredibly fragile. She still had that pure heart, the sense of humor, the burning curiosity and altruism, just… moodier. Like Xena could talk about moody.

So when they dismounted on the final temple approach and tied up their horses near a stream, Xena reached out and held onto Gabrielle's shoulder until she looked up. "Hey."

Gabrielle blinked. "Um, hey."

"I meant what I said earlier. I love you, and whatever happens, we'll be fine."

A minute relaxation of the shoulders and neck. "Okay. I… believe you, Xena." She mustered a small smile, which Xena returned. "I can't wait to remember our life together."

"That's the spirit." Xena leaned in and kissed her, lingering until she felt a little sigh come from her partner. Then she punctuated their embrace with one more solid kiss before pulling away and holding out a hand, which Gabrielle took, and leading the way to the doors.

This temple was small, probably three rooms, and stone but with a thatched roof. No guard waited, but inside were rows of clay jars, a pool of crystalline water, and a priestess with reddish-gold hair. The woman stared at her visitors from next to the pool, stiff under her flowing tunic.

Xena began, "Priestess, my wife has lost her memory. Can you do anything?"

The direct question was met with, "You believe this to be your wife?" The priestess looked mystified, seeming to stare right through Gabrielle.

Xena's eyes narrowed, but her voice was steady. "This _is_ my wife. She just forgot some things."

"That may be your wife's body; I do see the truth of that in you. But the vessel's contents aren't just reduced. They have been replaced."

Xena's stomach dropped, and she looked at Gabrielle, who looked back up at her in astoundment. They turned as one to stare at the priestess again, and the shorter woman managed to ask, "What does that mean?"

The priestess cocked an eyebrow but answered evenly, "You aren't in your right body. You're someone else."

"Nnno, I'm me. This is my body. Right height, right hands - I have the exact scar from when a sheep bit me when I was four." Gabrielle's voice strengthened as she spoke, and Xena took some comfort from it.

But she still looked back and forth from the disturbed priestess to her spouse, trying to fully understand.

"Hmm… searching your memories, you are correct," the priestess slowly admitted. "But if you are you, you aren't the present you. She has gone somewhere else, and your younger self is now you."

Xena broke in, "'Somewhere else?!' That's my wife you're talking about. Where is she?"

"Perhaps she merely switched with her younger self? Neither of you remember such an incident, but I'm not sure where else she would go."

Gabrielle looked like she needed to sit down. "Switched with myself… How… how could that happen?"

Xena took her hand again and squeezed it as the priestess actually shrugged her elegant shoulder. "Did you perhaps rest in a temple of Aion? He rules over unbounded time. This feat is within his power."

Gabrielle of course looked to Xena, who shook her head curtly. "No, not ever."

"Janus, then?"

"No… wait, who's Janus?"

"He is one of the great Titans, a deity of two faces who sees forward and back through the ages. He rules over beginnings and endings; gateways and transitions."

Memories sifted through Xena's mind - and, apparently, the priestess'.

Xena slowly drawled, "Two faces..."

The priestess said it a moment after Xena remembered: "That road marker? The one you thought was a set of theater masks?"

The one she saw two days ago, before this all started. Leagues and leagues away. Xena let out a growl that built into a howl of frustration.

* * *

If the temple had a door, Gabrielle was sure Xena would have slammed it open as she swept out the portal. She stalked toward their horses, obviously agitated, and Gabrielle had to jog to keep up.

"Wait. Hey!" Her mind swirled with relief and shock in equal measure. She hadn't forgotten her life! Still hurrying, she placed a hand over her hip, where a tattoo lay under the cloth. Somehow, it seemed less scary and more fixable to be in her own future body, even though the mechanism boggled her mind, than to have an integral part of herself just missing.

Now if only she could catch up to her future _spouse_, with her unfairly long legs.

"C'mon, we can get a few more hours' ride in today. With any luck, we'll find the Janus shrine tomorrow."

"Xena, please!" Gabrielle grabbed her elbow, and Xena turned to look at her. Grey storms had replaced normally-clear blue eyes, and the lines of Xena's face wrote distress - pain, it seemed, not anger.

"Yes?" After a pause where Gabrielle didn't know what to say, Xena continued, gruff, "We've already come halfway back to where we started yesterday. Just have to angle back toward the main road to the west." This was nothing like the warm woman Gabrielle had grown to know over the last day and a half.

So she blinked, then nearly whispered, "What is it, really? Do you… I know you miss her, but it'll be okay. We'll find me."

Xena negated the guess with an impatient jerk of her head. Then looked away and groaned into the next words as if they were dragged from her lungs. "It's not just that." She took a breath and locked eyes with Gabrielle again. "For days now, I have been treating you like my wife."

Gabrielle dropped her hand and averted her gaze, stung. "Oh… I get it. And I'm not her yet; I'm just your tagalong."

Xena gripped her shoulders, shocking her into meeting eyes again. "You're my _friend_. You trusted me, and I put you in a position you're not ready for." Xena's grip loosened, even as her list of sins grew more passionate. "I lied to you because I assumed who you were. I thought I was helping my wife regain her memories, and instead I've weaseled affection out of- out of the very version of her I fell in love…"

Xena seemed to deflate. "I'm sorry. I should be comforting you, not making you have to chase me down."

"Xena," Gabrielle admonished softly, belying her small smile. She lifted her hands to rest on Xena's forearms with a squeeze, thrilled when the older woman didn't pull away. "It's okay. I'm not upset about any of that."

"You're not?"

"No. You weren't lying; you were just confused. And… I may only kind of be your Gabrielle, but you're also only kind of my Xena, aaaand... if we really just switched, I think I got the better deal. Being with you like this…" Gabrielle allowed herself to get absorbed in those striking blue eyes and the feel of Xena's skin under her caressing thumbs. Xena swallowed.

"It's easy to see how I fell in love with you. How I must've wanted so badly to become someone you can rely on like you do. My Xena might not want any of that yet, but…"

"She knows she doesn't deserve you," Xena murmured. There was a pause laden with, Gabrielle knew, more issues than she could see from where she stood. But...

"I'm…" Her eyebrow twitched, and her lips quirked. "Xena, come on, I'm not that bad."

Xena blinked and fought off a smirk. "You little-"

Gabrielle stood on her toes and kissed her, pulling down on her arms to bring them close enough. As an aspiring bard, she was a firm believer in the transformative effects of words, enough words, the right words, but sometimes other methods could be faster. Xena just barely pressed back into the kiss, but the affection was there, and she then pulled Gabrielle into a long, comforting embrace.

"I'm going to try to take better care of you from now on, all right?"

"If you took any better care of me, I'd be wrapped in wads of cotton and fat as a Fall squirrel. Then I'd overheat, and how would you explain the rash to your wife?"

The inanity broke Xena's tension with a long bout of snickering, and Gabrielle grinned into the skin above her armor. _My best accomplishment since waking up in her arms_.

* * *

In a stroke of bizarre luck, the small-time warlord and wannabe slaver who had taken Milo's family, Alec the Brutish, was expecting a particular flesh dealer to come to them from the coast: A slaver queen from a far-off land. She was looking to fill her ships with stock from all along this section of Greek coastlands and establish a regular route.

She was blonde, average height or short, and rode a pale horse. Due to meet Alec in just a few days.

Gabrielle volunteered to impersonate her, and that became the plan, despite Xena arguing herself hoarse. Xena was too tall, and there were no blonde wigs around. But there was enough armor and extra clothing around to cobble together a foreign slaver queen costume for Gabrielle, as well as Argo for her to ride (which she could apparently do?), and even a stocky, sweet draft animal for Xena to borrow.

"You can use her if you'll try to get Coren and Leah back. I… I think you can do it, seeing what you two did to these men and the way you helped me before. Or at least I want to hope you can." Milo grabbed Xena's hand in both of his, startling her into a blanch. He pleaded, "But please… those two and this horse are all I care about in the world. Take care of her? Be soft with her, and she'll treat you right. She'll walk all day, no complaints unless you make her run real long."

Gabrielle put a hand on the man's shoulder. "Xena is excellent with horses. She's trained Argo to be smarter than most people."

Now composed, Xena asked, "What's her name?"

"Sweetheart."

This actually made Xena smile a little, and she took the opportunity to retrieve her hand and get closer to the horse. She let the animal sniff her, then began petting her long face. "Hey, Sweetheart. We're gonna be good friends." The animal's skeptical look, followed by happy whicker as Xena found where she liked to be scratched, made Xena fully grin.

So only the horse could hear her, she leaned in and murmured, "You are a Sweetheart, aren't you?" Too whimsical for her to have picked for a horse, but it felt kind of nice to say.

Dark ears perked forward, pleased, but then Argo clopped up and headbutted Xena's shoulder.

She laughed. "What, are you jealous? You're my sweetheart, too. And Gabrielle will be nice to you." When Argo snorted, Xena rolled her eyes and started scratching her, too. She experienced a moment of peace communing with the animals until she glanced over at Gabrielle to share it - and saw a weird look on her face.

"What?"

Seeming to shake herself, Gabrielle straightened up and said, "Um, nothing. But see what I mean, Milo?"

The bowyer had a gentle smile on his face, for all that his eyes were maelstroms of worry. "Yeah. Yeah, you can borrow her. Be good for her, Sweetheart. Go get your brother and his Leah."

Gabrielle spoke again with somewhat unconvincing cheer, though Xena doubted anyone else noticed. "And- Hey, you'll look like an extra imposing bodyguard on her, Xena. She's tall!"

"...Yeah. There is that."

They had no saddle for Sweetheart, but they reasoned riding bareback would make Xena look even wilder and more exotic.

Xena did summon one more dark glare and argument against the plan, but Gabrielle had simply softened her voice and looked up at her with big green eyes, imploring. "For Milo's kids, Xena, and the others they took. It's the best plan. I'll be careful; I promise." Ugh, she could never glare daggers into those eyes for long. She really had gone soft on the little farmgirl, hadn't she?

Slaver queen outfit half-assembled, they took up the pieces and their borrowed animal and set out as soon as they could, following directions dragged from two bandits - questioned separately, where the other couldn't hear. They would finish preparing and planning on the road and hopefully reach Alec the next day, well before the real slaver queen.

* * *

Decades later, Xena and Gabrielle hurried back along the overgrown path from Mnemosyne's temple toward the road, then set off riding at a reasonable clip. And Xena fought her suddenly-renewed sense of urgency in the situation, trying to avoid leaving her partner in the dust on horseback. It would upset her. As would being too gruff or obvious about how much she wanted to go faster, she had recently realized.

At least she wouldn't have to teach Gabrielle her own life from memory and scrolls. She had been avoiding it, seeing no reason to torture them both by explaining the year and what became of their families, or to even try to decide what to say about their children. And now she felt pretty certain she should not say much at all, with the risk it could pose to the Fates' tapestry. Unless they had to find the Fates and mess with them directly…

She interrupted her own thoughts to call out, "Hey, sit back more like I taught you. Relax; move with the horse."

A cute blink. "Uh, okay. I'll try." Wide, leaf-green eyes narrowed in concentration, which Xena thought was a funny way to relax, but it seemed to help. The younger woman's body stopped fighting the motion of the horse quite so much, and she glowed with pride.

Xena did have to admit it had been interesting having this callow, shy version of her spouse back. Kind of cute, actually. And this younger one certainly seemed less inclined to argue about anything unless they were just passing the time debating for fun, for instance about what god's acolytes wore the best robes. Then she went all in on arguing.

The unadulterated admiration she showed was kind of nice, too. She could enjoy that for a while.

Right. Uh-huh.

Xena sighed internally. How weird was it to miss someone who was right in front of her? But miss Gabrielle she did - their easy camaraderie, her knowing touch, her mature intellect, and yes, even her irreverently-running mouth.

Still, this wasn't the worst thing to ever happen to them. Together, they could figure out how to fix it, and then she could tease her Gabrielle about how cute she was.

Janus… endings and beginnings. Past and future. Why would he mess with them? Did they toss a fish carcass at his shrine, or what? Was he even really the culprit? Xena certainly hoped so - and hoped that her wife was actually enjoying a boring time with her younger self, driving her nuts in one way or three, and not somewhere else entirely.

But she didn't like that she couldn't remember any such thing.

* * *

**Endnote:** This was the one where older Xena realized that I created a consent minefield with this story. All I can say is I've tried to handle it well and in a way that's true to the characters. You can see if you agree as we go along.


	8. Chapter 8: Closer

**Chapter Eight: Closer**

The younger Xena labored at a campsite bathed in amber twilight - and fire, this time, thankfully, since she and Gabrielle were posing as people the local bandits expected to see. She asked Gabrielle to tend to Argo again while she brushed and rubbed down Sweetheart, trying to facilitate as much rider-mount rapport as possible before their mission.

In service of that very practical goal, Xena found herself occasionally cooing at the docile horse. Sweetheart the carthorse turned into quite a dainty lady under pampering; she twisted and pressed her favorite scritching spots at Xena's horse brush and lifted her head with a regal air when Xena got it right.

"Oh, you're Milo's princess, aren't you? Does he pamper you between deliveries, Sweetheart?"

Both Argo and Gabrielle gave her several weird looks - mostly indignant ones, which made a lot more sense from Argo than the human. At least they were bonding? But Xena didn't know how to ask what that was about. So after several such glares, she cleared her throat and changed the subject from grooming.

"Hey, Gabrielle, about tomorrow. Sweetheart is obedient, but she's not a warhorse."

Gabrielle looked over, eyebrows set funny. "I know. Once the fight gets going, you can have Argo if you want her, and I'll hide with… Sweetheart."

"Well, I might need you to escort the kidnapped people, if we need to make a run for it. You can handle that, I assume." A little show of confidence ought to make her happy, right? Xena's judgment assured her it was no empty praise, either.

"Right, but either way, I'll keep- the horse calm and everyone out of your way." Now she wasn't even looking at Xena, despite having tucked Argo's curry comb away.

Not unkindly, Xena finally asked, "What's eating you? You've been giving me weird looks."

"Nothing."

"Gabrielle."

A sigh. "It's stupid, Xena. You don't need to hear about it."

Xena put her hands on her hips. "Stupid or not, it's clearly bothering you, and I need your head on straight for this half-baked plan of ours. Out with it." Gabrielle's eyes flicked up to her, and after a moment, Xena grumbled. "I won't make fun of you."

Gabrielle admitted, "...In my time, I'm your sweetheart. You call me that." She finished it off with a pathetic look.

Xena's brain took a moment to grasp it all - that she would develop a cutesy pet name for her cute companion and that Gabrielle was actually feeling petulant about the horse hearing it from her instead. Understanding did not provide her a suitable reaction, though.

"Well..." she floundered, dropping her hands to her sides, "I can't rename the horse, Gabrielle."

Gabrielle tossed her head in evident self-disgust. "Ugh, I know. I said it was stupid. I just miss it is all." She looked away and screwed up her face in annoyance, crossing her arms. "And I think something about this body makes managing that really hard. Like every bad thing wants to linger. Do you happen to know if I'm going to cycle soon?"

Xena accepted the pivot. "You're supposed to be a little cranky; you're 19. I think. Anyway, I was on a murderous rampage at your age, so don't sweat it."

"But my mind isn't a teenager's, Xena. I've been through all this already; I should be able to handle it."

Xena shrugged, glad to have something more academic to debate. "So maybe it's something in the body that makes teenagers wild. Or it's probably both - immature minds and imbalanced humors. And you, my friend, are in a stressful situation, so your humors are probably a wreck. Like I said, don't sweat it."

Gabrielle nodded and took a deep breath, seeming to center herself. "Thanks, Xena. You were always so patient with teen me." She stepped closer, and Xena was pretty sure she knew that look - she was about to get a hug.

She was right, and it didn't even occur to her to dodge it. She even returned it faster than she had the night before, relaxing into the warmth. So a kiss on her cheek surprised her all the more.

When they pulled back, Gabrielle gave her a slightly sheepish look. "Did you mind that?"

Xena answered, "Nah," and found it to be true.

* * *

Nighttime. The older Xena and younger Gabrielle had ridden straight through until almost evening, and they raced the sun to collect sufficient firewood and set up a crude shelter from the intermittent spatters of rain. Xena had said that, in winter, they often rushed like this, compensating for shorter days by taking their lunch breaks on the move and doing things like exercise, weapon practice, and cleaning by firelight. It supposedly made them really appreciate the naps they took in the hottest part of summer days, after swimming for their lunch when they were lucky. Gabrielle absorbed the information eagerly and tried to be a good sport about hurrying all day.

But now they lay with their bedrolls almost touching under Xena's lean-to, sputtering firelight shining in past their feet and, thanks to an incline, on their faces. Thus, Gabrielle knew Xena could see she was not even close to sleep, but Xena remained silent, hands casually pillowing her head.

Eventually, Gabrielle rolled toward her. "Xena?"

"Yeees?" Xena drawled, turning her head to fix her with a friendly look.

Gabrielle shimmied out of her bedroll and onto Xena's, kneeling at her side and spurring a raised eyebrow. The low ceiling forced her to bend toward Xena's patiently curious face, and Gabrielle bit her lip before briefly glancing away, at the rivulets of rainwater flowing out of their lean-to's hastily-dug gutter and past the fire. "Um. I was wondering… while I'm here." She reached out with a hand, then paused, a little wrinkle in her brow. "Can I…"

Clearly at sea, Xena nonetheless said, "Gabrielle, you of all people can do anything you want to me." They both twitched as they realized what that sounded like, but Gabrielle still reached out and brushed Xena's bangs back. Slightly shaking fingers continued on to thread through Xena's hair, inky black and burnished in red from the firelight. She rubbed some between her fingers, finding it lush and thick and looking even darker against her paler skin.

Quietly, she marveled, "So pretty… I never cared much about playing with other girls' hair, but for some reason, I always want to braid yours."

Xena gave her a warm look. "You can, you know. Even for younger me, when we get you back to her. I never minded some help with this mop."

"I've been too afraid to ask. But I guess that's silly, huh?"

"Eh, I'm sure I don't make it easy. But it's objectively faster when you do it, so I never could think of a reason not to let you touch me. Or feel very guilty about liking it."

Gabrielle was staring just above Xena's gaze, and before the question could be asked, she reached up to run her thumb over one artfully arched eyebrow. She traced the brow again with her fingertips, then cupped her cheek and began softly thumbing over Xena's cheekbone. Like an animal tamer finally earning the trust of a huge, beautiful cat, the novelty and a certain danger in the touch drew in Gabrielle's entire focus. She found the lines of the warrior mesmerizing.

While Xena contemplated the concentration in Gabrielle's expression, Gabrielle slowly explored the planes and angles of her face, only blushing when she stopped with her palm against Xena's cheek and met her eyes. "I always wanted… you're gorgeous." Her face flamed even hotter.

Holding her gaze, Xena responded, "Right now, I feel like it," with something like reverence.

So Gabrielle leaned forward and slowly met Xena in a kiss. Sank into it. Some part of her found it ridiculous that she now couldn't get enough of this woman who she'd hardly touched for their whole acquaintance - now found herself craving her, knowing what this was like. After long seconds, her tongue probed and was met in a slow dance; her free hand went to rest on Xena's ribcage for balance as she pushed the kiss deeper.

She got a real jolt of thrill when Xena finally took her hands from behind her head and reached for her while sitting up - but then Xena moved to the side to kiss Gabrielle's cheek, then her temple as she pulled her into a hug. She dropped one last kiss on the top of her head as she held the younger woman against her.

Hoarse and quiet, she said, "We should sleep."

So Gabrielle took a few chagrined breaths, getting the message. Then turned her head just enough to press a damp kiss to Xena's throat and feel her breath hitch, followed by a swallow. Fair was fair.

"Okay," she breathed against Xena's skin, resigned.

However, delight edged out her disappointment as Xena simply laid back down and brought her along, twitching her furs to cover them both. She murmured, "This okay?" into blonde bangs.

Gabrielle immediately wriggled herself into a comfortable nook, head cradled in the hollow of Xena's shoulder and her arm wrapped around her middle. A theatrically pleased sigh punctuated her nonverbal answer.

Xena chuckled and relaxed under her.

"Xena?" Upon hearing a questioning grunt, Gabrielle asked, "Can I braid your hair tomorrow?"

"Sure. I saw a rock you can use as a ladder."

"...You can't sit on the rock?"

"Question for your question: If a nice giant came by and asked you to scratch his back, would you ask him to sit on a house so you could reach, or would you get on the roof?"

Stunned silence. "Wait. Was that a short joke?!" Gabrielle's bedmate shook them both with quiet laughter.

"Xena!"

* * *

On a night years earlier, Gabrielle sat up looking at her oldest scrolls, trying to remember the fumbling young bard she used to be. She never had a lot of time or scrolls or encouragement at her parents' farm, so these had represented a most beloved freedom out of the many liberties found on the road. One scroll she had lost before it could be stored safely and thus had to rewrite it, and most of the scant others she had rewritten on purpose. And at least one, she had lost on purpose. Eventually, wryly amused and cured of her nostalgia, she went to lay down in her bedroll, a shoulder width from Xena's - and realized the warrior was awake.

Such a long silence and Xena's brooding expression seemed ominous in combination, but Gabrielle went for a teasing lilt when she said, "Xena, it's too late to look that stern. What's up?"

Xena gave her a droll look but answered, "I'm worried. What if this - you being in your younger body, not the bandit plot - what if it's due to something we did a few days ago and not something in the future? But I just can't think of anything."

Gabrielle gauged Xena's distress, guessed that her explanation was not quite complete, and decided to take a chance. She scooted the head of her bedroll over near Xena's so she could lay her head against her bare shoulder. "Hey. Assuming we just switched places - and where else would I have gone? - I promise that future-you is taking care of baby-me just fine. She has a lot of experience at it."

Xena grumbled something, then lapsed into silence. When Gabrielle was about to move away, however, she asked, "Was it good for you, staying with me?"

Oh no. Gabrielle rolled to her elbow to look down into Xena's face and, with no hesitation, stated, "I wouldn't have it any other way."

Xena looked up at her in consternation. "That doesn't sound like it was good for you."

In a weighty tone and after a deep breath, Gabrielle spelled out, "I have my regrets, but not one of them comes from being close to you or honest with you. And I like who I've become. I wouldn't sacrifice my time with you for anything." She watched Xena's whole expression twitch, conflict bubbling just under the skin.

"But you're a killer. You said so earlier. I don't want that for you." Turmoil, pain - it made Gabrielle truly regret bringing up her blooded hands earlier. Realizing - no, remembering how it would hurt Xena was a big reason she hadn't mentioned the dead bandit again. Who had, after all, been trying to kill her.

"Xena, violence came for me before we even met. You saved me, remember? I'd rather look for it at your side and do good with it than be anywhere without you." Instinctively trying to soften the words, she reached out and brushed some of Xena's hair back.

"You're such an efficient killer now?" Even in her forced derision, Xena didn't shake off the hand now caressing her cheek almost absentmindedly.

"I've learned to be. I don't like killing, Xena, but there are times for it. Like when I have to protect you. Gods help me, but that never keeps me up at night."

Finally, understanding started to seep into those beloved features. "...You really care about me that much?"

Gabrielle chuckled. "What gave it away, the lovesick looks? Me following you anywhere in these shoes should have been a clue to us both." Absolutely sober silence met her.

She softened her tone and tried, "Did you think I was joking when I told you I love you?" Gabrielle had been trying to avoid perturbing her with the true depth of their future bond, knowing her partner was emotionally skittish and mercurial at this age. But now she couldn't take the disbelief and guarded hope staring up at her. A change in tack was due.

Somewhat gravelly in tone, Xena said, "Didn't know what to think. Never met someone from the future in the body of a friend before."

The slight defensiveness gifted Gabrielle a brief smile. Then she put it back on, along with an air of confidence under heavy-lidded eyes. "Xena, I probably know you better than you know yourself right now, and I love every hair on your head. I love each shadow in your heart. You'll be mine, warrior princess." She poked Xena's chest with a finger. "The Fates themselves wouldn't tell you differently."

"...Yours, huh." A hand came to rest on Gabrielle's waist, and Xena's gaze shifted to lob a final challenge up at her. Did she expect Gabrielle to shy away in disgust? To grow seductive and wend her wiles around Xena as if closing a honey trap?

Instead, Gabrielle's whole demeanor softened, and her expression melted into a warm, genuine grin. "Mine. And I'm yours, no matter what." She drifted closer as she spoke, drawn in by the cautious wonder dawning on Xena's face, and caressed her cheek. She flicked her eyes to see their hair now pooled together to one side, gold swirled atop ebony in a fetching manner. When Gabrielle looked back, she caught Xena glancing at her lips, and then Xena's own lips drew her attention, and it was mere inches' motion to bring them together.

* * *

Xena had mostly avoided thinking about the romantic part of Gabrielle's story; it still hurt her head to think it might be true. Either that she would deliberately seduce her young companion - a new low for her - or that the sweet, pure bardling would burrow her way into her arms. Long-term, at that.

Sure, she was the most important person in Xena's life at the moment. Her constant companion, a comfort on the road, someone who improved her mood, someone to teach and protect...

But she was still a flighty thing, which was honestly good. Xena believed she should explore her wants and needs. And so far, none of those wants had been women, at least that she noticed. (She paid close attention, ostensibly so she could step in if any interested boys got predatory or just too handsy.) True, Xena had felt something absurdly close to jealousy when she'd found Gabrielle in bed with that boy in the Titan village, but she'd shoved it away as some weird impulse.

Not that Gabrielle was _that_ young. At her age, Xena had killed dozens of men and slept with more than one, but Gabrielle wasn't like her. She was earnest and smart but naive.

A canny, adoring face hovering just over Xena's declared, "You'll be mine, warrior princess. The Fates themselves wouldn't tell you differently."

Of course, _this_ Gabrielle seemed well past fumbling youthful dalliances. For a moment, it all made Xena angry. To have this confusing spirit in her companion's body, to not know where her young friend's spirit was or how she was doing. To see nothing naive at all in the countenance so very close to hers.

She reached up and splayed her hand over the side of the woman's rib cage, intoning, "Yours, huh?" with a clear air of challenge. Not expecting the kind smile and the, "Mine. And I'm yours."

Something in Xena's understanding finally slipped into place. Gabrielle said more, but little made it through her ears far enough to be understood. Instead, two days of tender looks and touches flowed through Xena's mind, seen in a new light, and she was drowning in the moss-green ocean of a pair of eyes, distracted only by the sight of lips, just there… and then Gabrielle kissed her.

* * *

Gabrielle knew this Xena didn't love her. Not yet, not really. She was on the path toward it, sure, even if she couldn't imagine the twists and turns they would take. She preferred having her around to not and apparently already wanted her, physically, which Gabrielle never would have guessed on her own. But Xena simply hadn't had the time to explore their connection, the ease and depth of it that would, in time, draw them inexorably together and give them the tools to work through dark and hard times.

This Xena was still lost in so many ways. She hated herself almost without reserve. To an older Gabrielle, with the memory of an older Xena, that was abundantly clear.

So she gave what she had to offer in a language Xena understood, cautiously feeling out each brush of their lips for more than the barest hesitation. Exploring Xena's neck to feel her pulse leap. Keeping her nerves primed to sense any resistance as she brought their bodies together. Until finally, now sure it was welcome, she applied herself with calculated determination.

* * *

Xena wasn't at all prepared for the feeling, not just the softness and sweetness of the kiss but the well of emotion it brought. Comfort, affection, and an indescribable sense of completion. She drew in a shuddering breath through her nose, and when Gabrielle pulled away from their simple lip lock, she blindly sought out another. And Gabrielle pressed another after that, freeing herself from her bedroll to settle more fully over Xena's form. Every brush of body contact jolted her senses and compelled her to deepen the kiss, her tongue seeking Gabrielle's even as she held her closer with the hand on her waist.

They teased and explored in natural harmony for a while before Gabrielle moved on to kissing Xena's cheek, her jaw, and down to her neck. Xena opened her eyes and looked up at the stars, breathing already unsteady. What were they doing? Was this-

Gabrielle used her tongue to tease a very sensitive part of Xena's neck. The niggling misgivings tried to stay afloat in Xena's mind, but Gabrielle then bit that sensitive spot, and it washed all thoughts away. The patch of skin received a soothing kiss before Gabrielle kissed her way back to Xena's mouth.

The warrior slowly sat up, lip-locked, and ended up with Gabrielle sat - dear gods - straddled in her lap, the blanket still between them. She lavished attention on Gabrielle's own neck while her hands began an exploration of her back. A happy hum made Xena smile into the soft skin under her lips, and then Gabrielle ducked her head to start a slow nuzzle up the side of Xena's neck, to the corner of her jaw. The tender gesture, punctuated by small kisses, had Xena absentmindedly rubbing her cheek against her partner's head, lost in it. And had her hand drift all the way down Gabrielle's back to rest on her backside. It felt wonderful in her hand, so she gave it a squeeze.

Gabrielle chuckled and nipped Xena's ear, prompting an in-drawn breath. In a deepened tone, she said, "Xena."

"Hm?" Xena noticed Gabrielle's shoulder was in nibbling range and started to do so, at least the parts not covered by a shift.

"Take this off for me?" Gabrielle tugged at Xena's own shift. "And the underwraps?"

The words, the gesture, and the breathy tone all went right to Xena's center, and she had to clear her throat to manage a cool, "Sure."

Gabrielle helped remove the garments as Xena lifted her backside off the ground. Then she pushed the blanket out of the way and casually pulled off her own clothes to settle back into Xena's lap, arms around her shoulders. Xena could only stare at this sultry blond vision and try to come to terms with the flush contact scalding her skin. Gabrielle simply smiled at her and resumed their kiss, and Xena threw herself into it with abandon.

Eventually, Gabrielle laid a hand on Xena's waist - and slid it gradually up to tease a nipple with her thumb before taking the whole breast in hand. She palmed then rubbed with finger and thumb just so, the tingling contact ramping up to jolting stimulation until Xena had to moan into the kiss. Gabrielle pressed a barely hesitant Xena back down to the bedroll. Shouldn't… in bed, she was usually more in control than this. But Gabrielle was moving down her neck again and nibbling that one spot, and Xena didn't truly want her to be doing anything different. She tried to explore Gabrielle's chest, but Gabrielle moved further down her body, pressing a kiss to her collarbone, her sternum, ghosting her lips over a wanting breast - only to move below it, to a slashing scar over her ribcage, and press slow kisses along it.

Something inside Xena started to tremble at the reverence of the action. When Gabrielle glanced up to gaze at her face, her green eyes went even softer. She sat up and took Xena's hand in both of hers. Kissed its back and the back of each of its fingers, its palm, and the pulse on its wrist. Turned it to nuzzle another scar on the forearm, then looked over it to lock eyes with Xena, who couldn't think of anything to say. Alongside the animal appreciation in Gabrielle's look - which Xena quite enjoyed - she projected such… such sure affection. A knowing and accepting that made Xena feel suddenly cherished.

"You're so beautiful, Xena," whispered Gabrielle, and it didn't feel like just a remark about her looks. Gabrielle released the captured hand with one last kiss on the scar and leaned back down to nose and nuzzle between Xena's breasts before finally turning to take one into her mouth. The confident swirl of her tongue and steady attention made Xena groan and fist her hand in the younger woman's hair.

It was too much and not enough, so she gently encouraged Gabrielle to move back up and kiss her. She took charge this time, plundering and using her free hand to inventory whatever she pleased. She discovered a certain way of rolling Gabrielle's nipple made her whimper into Xena's mouth, so she continued doing it until Gabrielle broke away to press her face into Xena's neck and squirm overtop of her.

Xena wrapped her arms around her and rolled them over so Gabrielle was on her back, with Xena nestled between her thighs. A laugh of simple joy bubbled from the younger woman and made Xena's heart skip a beat - and then she rolled her hips to grind into the warrior, who briefly wondered if she was going to black out. She shook her head slightly, then shifted to grind her own hip-bone against Gabrielle in a way that made her gasp. Yes, that was a start. She did it again and set up a slow rhythm. She wanted to focus on the younger woman, to pleasure her fir-

Gabrielle savagely tickled a spot that Xena thought no one alive knew about, sparking a startled laugh and making her recoil up onto her knees a little.

"Xena," she chided with a sparkle in her eye, "that's fun, but I can't reach." She drew her mildly betrayed partner forward with one hand and placed the other against Xena's belly, where it slid down to pass through her curls and ghost over her sex. A soft caress, but it echoed through Xena's whole body, and she couldn't even think about resisting Gabrielle's light nudge to open her legs more. Not to be outdone, Xena trailed her own hand up Gabrielle's inner thigh to the apex and spent a long moment processing the velvety feel of the skin there. Soft and so wet for her, she wanted to map it with care. They both sighed at the intimate contact, and Gabrielle smiled in obvious contentment - then proved she needed no map. She slid her fingers through Xena's own wetness and up to play with her clit with a practiced air. Gentle patterns, over and over, and the press of firm fingers before rolling, then again, and again, and again...

When Gabrielle slid a finger inside her, Xena gasped, faltered in her explorations, and let out an embarrassingly loud whimper.

Gabrielle stilled. "Are you okay?"

What a ridiculous question. Xena managed an, "Uh-huh," and nodded, causing a sultry smirk to take over Gabrielle's face. The finger moved inside her, and then another joined it until Xena found herself rocking to encourage more force from the heel of the hand pressing against her with every thrust. Then the fingers curled, and she whimpered.

"Lay down for me, Xena?"

Xena admitted defeat. This woman had every advantage, and Xena wanted to give over the spoils. So she laid down beside Gabrielle, who rolled over to resume her ministrations. Xena put an arm around her and held her close as those clever fingers set to a determined rhythm inside her, knowing and confident and chasing away every coherent thought. She tipped Gabrielle's chin up to kiss her, and the woman gave her mouth over to focus Xena's pleasure and muffle her moans. The pleasure and the pace ramped up in turn, until Gabrielle's rhythm steadied on one relentless cadence, in time with the bucking of Xena's hips and joined by a thumb on her clit, and the warrior came undone with a gasp and long groan. Mindless, she pulled Gabrielle close, taking on most of her weight, and buried her face in blonde hair to breathe herself calm.

Gabrielle let her do so for a few moments, then whispered, "Honey," with sweetness.

Xena loosened her hold to look at her face, a little off-balance when she saw the mischief there. "Yeah?"

"I'm not done."

"What?"

In answer, Gabrielle kissed her lips, then her chest, then started slowly licking and kissing her way down Xena's belly. Xena watched, and each tantalizing brush of lips stoked the smouldering fire under her skin back to flaming.

"Gabri-"

"Hold on, love."

Xena blinked, and Gabrielle nuzzled along one side of her hip before smoothly moving to run her tongue up Xena's sex.

"Oh, gods."

Gabrielle focused her tongue on Xena's clit for a few licks before putting her mouth over it and, with the flat of her tongue pressed close, gave an, "Mm-hm." The vibration sent Xena's head back down to her furs, and Gabrielle started having her way with her in earnest. Xena shifted to give better access, and the single-minded attention of that tongue, punctuated by long moments of sucking, had her writhing and fisting the bedroll in her hands. When Gabrielle gave over her fingers to curl inside her again, Xena groaned and felt each caress spark, every touch tighten the coil of pleasure in her gut, and in moments she flew over the horizon of pleasure.

As she lay there, gasping, her eyes closed but still seeing stars, her partner snaked her way up her body and kissed the side of her neck. Xena shuddered, and a forearm came to rest over her ribs.

"Good?"

"Good? How could you ask?" Xena tried to say, but Gabrielle was breathing in her ear, and all that came out was a garbled, "Go-rrhf."

* * *

Gabrielle pressed a lingering kiss to the side of Xena's neck and reveled in the shudder of a late aftershock. "Good?" She nuzzled an ear and considered nibbling it. Of course, she knew it was _good_. She could play Xena's body like a lyre, and this younger version had no idea until it was happening. She wanted to know that Xena felt _loved_ \- not just serviced by someone who could be a well-tuned bed slave or a casually physical traveling companion or whatever she thought they were in the future.

Xena produced a strangled noise that may have began with a "guh" sound, which seemed promising. Then she took a long breath. Then rolled on top of Gabrielle, braced on her forearms. Looking down, she wielded a look too happy to qualify as outrage.

"You."

_I broke her. I broke her, and now I'm in for it._

Gabrielle just giggled, "Me," and put her arms around Xena as her lips closed on Gabrielle's own. Reassured, she could finally let this wild, younger version of her partner have her wicked way.

* * *

When they broke off to look at one another, Xena saw a self-satisfied imp who was clearly excited and hungry for her, eyes shining in the firelight. She trailed a hand down the woman's side and could feel the anticipation just under the skin there.

And yet…

When Xena hesitated, Gabrielle's expression shifted to concern. "What's wrong?"

Xena settled down on her side. "Is this really okay?" With post-orgasm clarity came some doubts and misgivings. "Will you - younger you - mind what we're doing?"

In a tone that held more affection than exasperation, Gabrielle chided, "Xena," and caressed the side of the warrior's face. She rolled up on her own side to face the warrior. "I would have trusted an older me to do the right things with my body for good reasons." Her knuckle played along Xena's cheekbone.

"Ah." Good reasons?

"But… Xena, I don't want to make you uncomfortable. You don't have to do anything you don't want to." She let that sit out for consideration before adding, "Though, I might ask you to leave me alone here for a little bit. I don't think I can sleep otherwise."

Caught out by a burst of humor, Xena snorted. "It's like that, huh?"

"I'm only human, Xena…"

Xena pulled the woman flush against her and watched a grin bloom. "I guess it's pretty rude to get you all hot and bothered, let you pleasure me, and leave you to finish by yourself."

Still grinning as Xena started to taste along her jawline, Gabrielle protested, "Really, Xena, don't feel like you have…" her voice trailed up to a higher register, "-to."

Xena took note of the spot she was nibbling, then ran her hand up Gabrielle's back. "Tell me what you like." She nudged Gabrielle's knee with her own, and their legs eagerly entwined, their bodies pushed that much closer together.

"Xena, I love the way you touch me. Anything with your hands."

Those words, murmured huskily by this woman straight into Xena's ear, hit her libido like a runaway chariot.

"I love your body against me."

Xena ran her hand down over the swell of Gabrielle's backside and pulled her close as she pushed with her leg. It earned her a sharp, gratified, "Ah!" before she went back to kissing the younger woman. She decided to take her time, gently exploring with her tongue between little breaks where she toyed with Gabrielle's lips or just pressed soft kisses to them and to her cheek.

Gabrielle melted under the tender attention, even as she intermittently ground into Xena's thigh. Both mapped the other's torso and backside with steady caresses.

Eventually, Xena started toying with the thigh thrown over hers, reaching around and under it to tease the inside and feel Gabrielle wriggle against her more purposefully. She kept at it until Gabrielle's breathing sped up, then pushed her onto her back. Xena poised her hand above her- only to start touching the inside of the other thigh.

Xena took a moment to enjoy Gabrielle's tortured look before she kissed her more intently than before, taking control and pushing her tongue in deeper. Satisfied that was okay, her touch finally moved up to become truly intimate, and Gabrielle moaned into her mouth. She tried some different movements to gauge their effectiveness even as she moved her mouth down from Gabrielle's lips to taste elsewhere.

"Ah, yes, like that. Like… yes, just… higher, please." And a happy sigh when Xena followed the instructions.

Being explicitly directed also worked. Xena just went with it, peppering Gabrielle's chest and neck with lazy kisses as she concentrated on what the nub at the top of her partner's sex liked best. Gabrielle gave her a little help, including one, "Harder," that almost made Xena stop what she was doing, all while gripping her upper arms or clutching at her back.

"You can- inside, me, Xena, you can-"

Xena cut off that request with a nip to the sensitive bit of Gabrielle's jaw, reveling in the gutteral sound it earned and in the way the younger woman began to twitch in time with the determined fingers on her clit.

When Gabrielle came, she turned her whole upper body to bury her face in Xena's neck, muffling a brief yell. Xena wished she could have watched her face through it all, but she relished the shuddering of the lithe body against her own. When Gabrielle caught her breath, she lifted her head and rubbed noses with Xena.

"Thank you."

"Thank you," Xena automatically responded, totally off-kilter trying to figure out how she wanted to react to a nose-rub.

"I love you."

That time, more than previous declarations, the words socked Xena right in the chest. The beating of her heart drowned out any possible verbal response, but Gabrielle just kissed her soundly and peppered a few more on her cheek and chest before settling on her back.

Xena did the same and turned to look at her.

Gabrielle twined their arms together. "By the gods. I feel much better. I think I was a little pent up. Weren't you?"

Xena didn't respond, and Gabrielle gave her a steady, wry look.

Xena finally let out a self-deprecating chuckle, then cleared her throat to ask, "But that was okay? And you feel… fine about it?"

"Chshh, yeah. That was great. I knew I married you for a reason."

It took a few seconds to penetrate Xena's sex-addled, now-sleepy brain. "Married?!"

Gabrielle went still against her side. "Uh… sorry, I know you said not to talk about the future, but… yeah. Hope you liked this, because you've got a lifetime of it coming."

Xena stared into the darkened tree canopy for a long time and couldn't think of a single thing to say. "Huh."

"Yup. Are you, uh, cold? Because I'm getting there."

* * *

Much later, Xena lay still awake, and not just because she wanted to hear any intruders to their camp site. Nor just to listen for real slaver queens coming from the road from the coast, which they had passed earlier that evening.

She had slept with Gabrielle. A week ago, she was pretty certain that would have been wrong to even try. But of course this Gabrielle was from the future. Her wife - wife! wife. - with whom she had already slept. Or would sleep.

And that part, she couldn't doubt at all. Not even Borias, who had shared sleeping furs with her the longest of anyone, had been able to touch her like that. Not even after he got all soft and doe-eyed for her. No, Xena could easily believe this person had years of practice enjoying her specifically. And this was Gabrielle for sure. No actor or god could nail her friend's mannerisms, her glare, and each one of her various smiles the way this one did without thought or effort.

None of it made any more _sense _than yesterday, but Xena believed it to be true. Gabrielle would fall in love with her and share her bed with uninhibited joy. Would even be a little demanding about what she wanted, if tonight was any example. In the future. But she had slept with the present-time body of her naive friend. With her enthusiastic permission. But not given until years from now, in a way.

She dropped the train of thought in frustration and instead propped herself up on her elbow to better take in the shift-clad blonde spooned against her front. Though totally sacked-out after their long day and rather energetic evening, Gabrielle held a captured arm fast against her breastbone. Sleep hid the wise eyes and outsized poise of older Gabrielle's maturity, and only guileless youth and beauty remained.

A sudden surge of emotion overtook Xena. She couldn't let anything happen to this woman, not without doing her damndest to stop it. She couldn't bear it.

Was this the beginnings of love, or just friendship gone protective? Would she feel this way if the woman wasn't wrapped in her arms, their unclad legs tangled, every breath pressing them together all the more? If it hadn't been so long since her last tryst? With Hercules, of all people! She had left him half because she didn't feel like she deserved his patient attention, and now she had _Gabrielle_ in her sleeping furs?

Gabrielle rolled forward a little, dragging Xena's arm and, thus, her whole body with her, and Xena let out a puff of laughter despite herself.

She should have felt too guilty to put her blood-encrusted hands on someone as pure as Gabrielle at all, future version or no. But her words, then that kiss… then every touch, every taste, the way Gabrielle knew just what to do, their undeniable compatibility - for a while, it all washed away everything except the want and the comfort giving into it brought.

Even now, with Gabrielle blithely senseless, Xena marvelled at how they just fit. And she found herself loath to get up, or roll over, or do anything except curl around the smaller body more tightly and bask in the warmth. So she did.


	9. Chapter 9: Past and Future

**Note: **Apropos of nothing, but my private joke in this story is that young Gabrielle never realizes that Argo 2 is not the original Argo.

**Chapter Nine: Past and Future**

Gabrielle awoke slowly, allowing different sensations to charm her in turn. Undisturbed birds surrounded her with their music. The feel and smell of the air told her it would be a balmy, cloudy morning. The warmth along her back revealed that Xena still lay with her despite being awake, judging by her breathing. And the hand Gabrielle still held captive in her own showed that Xena likely hadn't left her for a moment. She smiled and kissed Xena's fingers before opening her eyes.

That strong arm tightened around her with just a little hesitation, so she rolled over within its embrace and hugged back. After peppering the skin above Xena's shift with lazy kisses, she looked up to see something like relief paired with the affection in those blue eyes.

"Mornin'."

"Good morning. How do you feel?" Gabrielle asked.

Xena seemed to consider. "...Good. Slept well."

Gabrielle smirked. "Yeah, good sex and a coccoon made of warrior princess helped me sleep, too."

Xena's faint smile grew, and Gabrielle felt more than saw the flush of warmth roll up her chest. It was the happiest and most relaxed Gabrielle had seen her since the body swap fiasco started, and it made her heart thump despite herself.

"It's good for us both. Love makes you strong, Xena; you just have to let it grow." Gabrielle slid her hand up her partner's back and over her shoulder to caress her jawline. Xena's expression turned unfathomable, while Gabrielle's own thoughts and face sobered. "And… not take each other for granted too often."

Seeing an eyebrow raise, she managed a self-deprecating smile. "Trust me. Let yourself love, and everything else will come."

Xena's jaw worked under Gabrielle's fingers, and a frown set in. "But… Gabrielle. If you've had so much experience now, you have to know you deserve better than me."

"No, I don't. You're incredible." The frank, immediate response startled Xena's frown away, and Gabrielle enjoyed her nonplussed blink. "And I'm as fallible as anyone. I've made some big mistakes, all on my own." Gabrielle renewed her touching of Xena's face, tracing a cheekbone on back to her ear and ghosting the ridges of the shell.

"And anyway, even if I were perfect - Xena, you make me so happy." She took a moment to watch the belief finally start to steal over sculpted features. "There's no one for me but you."

Xena shook her head as if to shake away these facts. She insisted, "You don't know that."

Gabrielle laughed, "I do know that. For a fact." The certainty of it wrinkled Xena's brow. "Anyway, let's enjoy my time here, for all that we both need it to end. Younger me probably isn't ready to jump into all of this."

"All of this?"

"This is for keeps, Xena. Once she realizes she wants you and can have you, she's not going to let go. And I admitted I'm a mess at this age, but hey... don't wait too long to clue her in?"

A raised eyebrow met the words. Then Gabrielle's expression hardened to such seriousness that the other eyebrow followed.

Propping herself on her elbow, she quit her caresses to squeeze Xena's shoulder and said, "I mean it. And if you wait too long, and someone proposes to me, don't let me do it. Say something. Send him away."

Shocked, Xena admonished, "Gabrielle!"

"I know, I know we said not to talk about the future, but please. And when we go to Brittania, don't leave me alone for a second. I don't care what I say - tie me up and throw me over a horse if you have to. Okay? If you remember anything from our time together, remember that." It felt selfish to focus on just those things, and protecting Perdicus above so many others definitely was. But the cascade from Brittania had been incredible, between her hurt and jealousy and pain, Xena's guilt and pain, and Hope herself.

For the last two days, as she thought about what to tell Xena, she had agonized over wanting to say, "Kill Callisto, when you meet her. As soon as you can. And find some way to deal with the guilt, because it's a lighter burden than what will happen if you don't." Maybe if Callisto died earlier, she wouldn't catch Ares' eye or Hera's, wouldn't escape the Underworld, wouldn't become immortal... wouldn't be in Hell to tempt Xena to trade places if they died again. She could still reincarnate into Eve, if that was so meant to be. Right? But if she didn't, if Eve's soul came from someone else, or if she wasn't born to start the Twilight at all... And all of this would only matter if they lived through Velasca without Callisto's help. Too much. It was just too much to consider.

But a world and life without Hope… even the good parts, the love she'd felt and the… life without those dashed dreams and with more Solan could only be better, right? Maybe even Xenan would have an easier time with a friend like Solan.

In a clipped tone, Xena ordered, "Stop it. I shouldn't even know we go to Britannia!"

Heedless, Gabrielle pressed on, "And if we ever have a plan to fake our own deaths along with- a third person, tell the God of War before we go through with it."

"Wait, what? Why would I tell Ar-" A hand clamped over Xena's mouth, and the eyes above them grew incredulous.

Gabrielle took back the hand Xena shoved away and explained, "If his name comes out of your mouth, he might start paying attention. I don't want that right now. But please. Not telling him about the plan, even though we told our lovable idiot friend and a bunch of Romans, if you would believe it, leads to the worst thing that ever happens to us that isn't at all our fault. I'm telling you there's no way you can foresee what's going to happen if you don't tell you-know-who." She let the anguish of the memory show in her face. Twenty-five years. Twenty-five years! Their family! Their friends. So much lost to them.

They stared at each other for a long time, Xena measuring while Gabrielle's eyes stayed rock-steady.

"Flirt with you sooner rather than later, put a leash on you in Brittania, and tell an antagonistic god if we decide to fake our own deaths."

Gabrielle nodded. Their wills battled while their bodies lay snuggled under the furs, until Xena slowly nodded back, and Gabrielle almost collapsed against her as she sought another hug. Xena rubbed the back of her neck.

"I'll think about what you said." Not much of a promise, but so much more than Gabrielle could expect.

* * *

On a far future morning, Gabrielle not only enjoyed combing Xena's lustrous hair to a sheen and carefully braiding it (maybe too carefully, just to make the experience last), but she also got to enjoy Xena's genuine appreciation once they got underway. The shrine to Janus lay in a spot so neglected even Xena couldn't always tell deer trails from human ones, and long, free tresses would have gotten caught in everything. They found an eroded, moss-occluded marker to point them in a general direction, at least, but there came a time they had to leave their horses behind and, in re-blazing the dubious trail, mummified a sizable branch in morning spiderwebs.

They took a midmorning break at an adjacent stream, shoving through vegetation to crouch and splash pollen and other grime off their faces. And when Gabrielle wiped her eyes clear, a woman stood on a nearby rock. A visage in pink out of nowhere, with a head draped in majestic, golden curls. Just ahead of Gabrielle, Xena seemed to notice the apparition at the same time and stood. The woman waved at Xena with what Gabrielle read as... sheepishness?

"Hello, sunshine." She was wincing.

Which highlighted the flatness of Xena's demanding, "What did you do?"

The stranger shrugged, and a corner of Gabrielle's mind noticed that she could see an awful lot of the woman. "I didn't. Couldn't even if I wanted to, Xena. Wrong kind of hocus pocus. Buuut…"

As she trailed off, Gabrielle stepped up to Xena's elbow and touched it. "Who is that?"

The strange figure's blue eyes softened, and she gave Gabrielle a smile that looked a little sad. "Hey there, cupcake."

Xena turned her head to look at her companion. "That's the goddess Aphrodite. A friend of ours, at least last I checked."

Gabrielle felt her eyes go huge. "Wow. No wonder she's so pretty."

Some of Aphrodite's restrained manner fell away, and a prideful grin took over.

"What is she wearing, though?"

"Hey."

Xena made an impatient noise. "Aphrodite, you say you can't do this, but you look guiltier than Zeus at a family reunion. What gives?"

"Too soon, Xena."

"Aphrodite."

"Ugh, look, let's get to Janus' shrine first. That's where you were going, right? It's straight that way. You were bushwhacking too far north." And she vanished.

Xena growled, "I can't believe this! We're on the third day of bumbling around the countryside over this problem, and now she just-" but Gabrielle squeezed her elbow.

"That was seriously the Goddess of Love? You mentioned her helping us before, but I didn't expect to see her." A real goddess! Nothing like Ares with his cruel laughter. Stunning and mysterious and... acting somewhat like Lila had that time Gabrielle came home to find out she'd been somehow blamed for breaking a water pitcher. Wild.

"That's her all right." Xena sighed. "Come on. Can't wait to hear this one."

There were a ton of questions swirling in Gabrielle's mind, but at least it seemed they were on the right track.

* * *

Gradually, the younger Xena's and older Gabrielle's moods lightened as they puttered around getting breakfast and tea ready. Until suddenly, Xena stopped mid-step into her boot and made an unusual face for her younger self: Eyebrows flattened out, lips tightened, eyes wide. "Hey. I was just thinkin'. What if you had switched back with younger you last night? During sex?"

Gabrielle blanched and stood up straight. "Can that happen?"

"How should I know?"

"Well, last time it was while we were sleeping."

Xena finally resumed securing her boots. "We spend like a third of our time sleeping. If the timing was completely random, it's not unlikely it would happen while we slept."

"Well. Um. Let's just hope it doesn't happen mid-plan today?"

Xena nodded slowly. "Yeah. And… we probably shouldn't sleep like we did last night again, in case it does happen some night. Younger you would flip if she woke up all cozy with me."

Gabrielle snickered at the image, and again at the half-fearful look on Xena's face. "Deal. But otherwise I don't think it's worth worrying about it happening any moment. Can't do anything about that anyway."

Xena wiped her expression clean and cleared her throat. "Well, while that's still steeping, show me what your costume looks like all together. Raiders could wander this way anytime, and I'd rather they not see the slaver queen in her underwear."

Gabrielle thought she did pretty well on short notice and with all borrowed and purloined gear - this version of her owning little regular clothing, much less costume scraps. Soon she stood with a town soldier's brown trousers billowing around her legs and belted low on her hips. She tucked the bottoms into her shoes and covered the messy belting at her waist with her own blue sash. For her torso, she had a linen shirt resewn to show off some belly and taken in so as not to flop in the wind, but she had left the neck wide to show off some shoulder. The fabric cut from the shirt was twined with a now-washed blue kerchief nicked from a bandit to form a headband. A halved, matching handkerchief was tied around her wrists in front of brown leather bracers, and she tucked a borrowed knife into her sash. A look vaguely exotic but, even Gabrielle had to admit, belonging to nowhere in particular. She put her hands on her hips and tossed Xena an imperious look. "Well? What do you think?"

"I think we'd better hope these are the simple hill bandits we think they are. But you figure you can sell the foreign megalomaniac thing?"

"Of course. Probably better if you don't talk, though. You can be my silent, scary guardian." Gabrielle tried for an encouraging smile.

"...Uh-huh. Well." Xena crossed her arms, cocked her head, and deadpanned, "Then I also think we need to make you look older."

Gabrielle dropped her arms. "Older? This body is older than you were when you started raiding across the steppe with Borias. After your early warlording _and _pirating!"

Wearing a faint smile, Xena sauntered up and pinched her cheek. "_You_ need to look older."

Gabrielle smacked the hand away and glared up into a benignly tolerant visage. "You saying I look too cute? Look at yourself; I bet you were absolutely adorable at my age."

Xena raised an eyebrow, highlighting the humor dancing in her eyes. "...Sure, whatever. I still had an extra head of height on you. I think we have some powders we can use to shade your cheeks a little, and let's see what we can do with your hair..."

* * *

The sun had barely moved by the time their counterparts found the shrine to Janus, in a state of decay almost prettier than new. Ivy crawled up the shallow sides of a wooden alcove sheltering a rough stone statue with no face. A craggy toga covered one shoulder, and below the belt its length disappeared into a riot of overgrown flowers and grasses. On either side of the alcove, hooks held masks of wood - one twisted in a roar of rage, one bearing a grin wide enough to look deranged. Each had inlaid bits of carved stone representing the eyes and ears and filling out the cheekbones, as well as coiled copper outlining features and suggesting a mop of curly hair up top.

On the grassy floor, Xena spotted a low stone table presumably for offerings, currently bare. Adjoining the alcove stood an equally-dilapidated, two-room structure, including an open door to a tiny room that held a bench and a well-made chest.

"Aphrodite!"

From behind, Xena heard, "I'm here; don't blow a gasket." The goddess somehow stalked delicately past them to one side. "Uncle!"

"Yyeeees, m'dear?" The voice coalesced from a whisper to a warble just ahead of its owner - a man not unlike the statue, with artful, rusty curls, a white toga, and a creepy wideness to his eyes. His smile remained static even as he turned from Aphrodite to the human women. "You brought visitors; how nice!"

Then, his entire head rotated around to reveal a whole new face on the back - this one reddened with fury, a vein popping on its forehead. Gabrielle let out a startled yell, and even Xena stiffened.

If the look of it weren't unsettling enough, the new face yelled, "I don't see an offering! Do you ever visit my sweet Venus' temples with empty graspers?"

Xena stepped in front of Gabrielle, who put a hand on her back and peeked around her arm. "I'm about to offer you a chance to fix whatever you did to my wife, Janus. He did do this, didn't he, Aphrodite?"

"Yes, but calm your boobplate. Let me explain."

* * *

After Aphrodite and Ares flexed the power newly returned to them by dropping Xena and Gabrielle off across the water, Aphrodite didn't really think about the humans for a little while. She was thankful, sure, but she did not consider herself to be in their debt, because those two would have helped anyone if it meant saving the world and their rockin' romance at the same time. And her losing her power in the first place was at least a little their fault. The convenient drop-off was just a kindness, as goddesses are wont to give to favored worshippers, and really it was mostly to spare Gabrielle some seasickness - an affliction Aphrodite had discovered on the trip to Odin's lands and was eager to never experience again.

So Xena and Gabrielle were having a leisurely wander and rekindling their Thing; they were fine. Meanwhile, not everyone in Aphrodite's purview had been within arm's reach when she regained the power of love, so temples needed celestial visitations, and a lot of relationships needed juicing up. Especially Cupid and his little family's dynamic. Her son represented and was steward of the mushiest kinds of love; he did not do well without her.

After a few weeks of all that, Aphrodite herself felt like she could use a juicing, and temple offerings of food weren't cutting it. Since it was past fertility festival season, none of the really interesting rituals were coming her way, so she went to check out her favorite two-course pick-me-up: The soulmated lovers.

And found them spatting. Over… some Gallic kids? And a Roman one? For some reason? Aphrodite wasn't sure what that was about, but she checked back a couple of times that day and could just feel the crankiness blowing off them both, a pair of faces as stoney as any statue of her. She stewed over the sitch - until she realized she was near her Uncle Janus. Visiting him usually cheered her up.

As she approached one of his ramshackle shrines, he appeared with a flash. "Aphrodite! My sweet, it has been too long!" The happier of his two faces spoke to her first, always a good sign. Though she did wonder, sometimes, how each face interpreted the past and future differently. While she joked with Happy Janus, did Cranky Janus mope over the past? Was Happy only seeing bright futures?

"Uncle! Long time, no dish!"

Janus wasn't her literal uncle, of course. Just another deity with a soft spot for her, as she had for him. They were both very, very old - but time was older than love, even love between Titans, so he styled his favor for her a little paternally. Anywho, he respected her power more than most of the younger deities she had adopted as her family, and she respected the power of perspective in maintaining love. So they amiably confounded one another from time to time: her mostly living in the moment and him seeing through the corridors of time so much that focus did not come easily in any one moment.

Janus' head flipped around. "You have been sorely used! Were that venal human not already dead, I would-" it flipped again "-but you had such an adventure with your little friends, didn't you? How nice!"

"Looked back and saw that, did you? Yeah, the three of us and Ares worked everything out with our god powers, and then I put in OT like woah to set the humans around here straight - or very not straight, or a little, as apropos - but now my fave humans are on the rocks, and it is not cool." When Janus inquired further, she explained what she knew of their fight: Some kind of mission failure that made them argue about their shortcomings.

"Does it bother you so, my sweet?"

"Yeah, it's kind of lame of me, but it genuinely bums me out. I'm sure they'll figure it-"

"In celebration of your return to power, let me make you a gift! I will fix it."

Aphrodite was intrigued. "You will?"

"Yes." Janus' head flipped to Cranky. "When I'm through they'll even value the shortcomings that rankle them now."

She foresaw no possible downsides to that. "Wow, sure. Thanks, Uncle!" And she left to take care of some more of her devotees while Janus worked.

* * *

Xena regained control of her loose jaw and nearly hissed, "For you. To get us back as your favorite snack. This yahoo switched Gabrielle with her own younger spirit? To teach us a lesson?!" Her voice had risen into a snarl by the end. They had even made up before bed!

"Well." Aphrodite sniffed and crossed her arms. "I didn't know he'd do that."

In a flat, clipped tone, Xena responded, "I don't care. Fix it. This poor Gabrielle was terrified, and the younger me is probably flipping out wondering where she is." She chose not to describe her own feelings, but she did turn her head to see mixed worry and something else unhappy on Gabrielle's face. She gathered the younger woman against her left side, and it seemed like the right thing to do; Gabrielle turned toward her slightly to better hold onto her.

"Yeah," Gabrielle began unsteadily but strengthened as she spoke, "older me probably misses her like crazy. Y- How could you? Please fix it."

The happy face teased, "I know you Greeks don't pay me much mind, but surely there aren't many gods you ask for favors for free?" His deranged eyes held a new hint of danger.

"Is it a favor to undo a favor?" asked Gabrielle.

Cranky came out to say, "Yes. That was a gift to Venus. You want it undone, you make a separate trade."

Even Aphrodite shook her head. "Wow, Uncle."

Xena figured she might as well have all the information. "All right, I'll bite; what do you want to undo it?"

The creepy, smiley one came back. "Your younger and older counterparts are already working on one thing I needed. A shame they didn't know to ask me for a favor first, eh?" Oh, that sneaky - Xena would bet her last dinar that's why he picked that time period for a switch. He needed an errand run, and this facilitated it somehow.

She cocked an eyebrow. "I don't remember doing anything for you."

Gleeful, Happy Janus explained, "You wouldn't! You'll never remember what you did, not until I switch your wife back, and you're both in the right time again. In-body time travel is one thing, but I can't have the younger yous remembering it after. I don't need the Fates on my ass about you changing things with foreknowledge."

"You needed the older version of Gabrielle for something, didn't you? And you set us all up for it." Xena received nothing but a deranged smile. "You just admitted you can't leave us swapped like this. Just fix it."

"Ah, but I have all the time in the world. Do you?"

Xena glanced down at her young partner, who glared at the deity with surprising fury.

"Come now, it won't be so hard." Janus' head flipped again, and these transitions really were not getting less disturbing. "The more memories I have to alter, the messier it will be. Do you want to have spent years missing months of happy memories because you were stubborn now? How many nasty, vaguely remembered fights can I make up to fill the gaps?"

"Uncle, just tell them what you want."

Happy came back. "Why not? Right now, the other yous are rescuing an artifact, one of my old creations. Or rather rescuing the acolyte of mine who was its steward. Because of that, he was able to bring the artifact here, but since then, it's been taken somewhere inappropriate, and I need you two to steal it back."

Xena asked, "What does this artifact do?"

"It reveals the provenance of a thing. Including creatures. I mostly made it to watch what delicious dramas would play out when human parentage could be proven. In the far future, a similar power will be a source of entertainment to many humans, believe it or not. But my acolytes used it to earn coin and spread my renown until they used it in the wrong place a few times. Did you know that lying about a lack of rats in a meat pie can cause quite a riot when it's found out? Just a little lie of omission like that?"

Xena thought about that. She knew well the importance of asking the right questions. Putting an item like that in the right - or wrong - hands would be... Deceptively powerful.

While she mused, Gabrielle asked. "If people stole it to use it again, wouldn't that bring you more attention? Renown? Maybe some more acolytes to fix up your shrines?" Xena felt her start when the angry head came out roaring.

"Only if the uneducated brutes seeing it know it's mine! Aion's little bastards plan to pretend it's his and make a scene with it. And I cannot enter his temple without him noticing." Head flip. "And it won't be nearly so fun if he knows it's gone. My task for you two is to switch the artifact with a fake I will give you. And then I will get to watch the chaos when his little membership drive fails."


	10. Chapter 10: Bandits

**Chapter Ten: Bandits**

From atop Sweetheart's bare back, Xena examined "slaver queen" Gabrielle with a critical eye. Blackened sticks from their fire had helped accent her eyes, and she had let Xena braid most of her hair back, leaving some to frame her face but hiding her bangs under the wide headband. She kept a relaxed seat on Argo and a studiously bored expression, projecting the insolence expected from a self-styled queen of the flesh trade. Needed more shiny adornments, though. As a one-time punk megalomaniac herself, Xena knew the value of flaunting one's success and simultaneously daring anyone to take it off your carcass. Nothing they could do for it now, of course.

Xena's eyes trailed down to Argo's stirrups, contemplating how high she had set them in deference to Gabrielle's shorter legs, and she thought about possibly having to fight from her warhorse's back later. And sighed internally.

They had iffy costuming, a borrowed horse, little information, no one to trust at their back, and a very thin cover story. The day would be interesting, if they lived through it.

"Hey, Xena."

"Mm."

"Does a pretend slaver queen outrank a warrior princess?" Gabrielle's sidelong look teased a smirk out of her companion.

"You could try me and find out."

"Well, you have five times the weapons, but I do have the warhorse."

Xena gave a certain whistle, and Argo stopped on a dinar. After another noise, the horse reared up and almost dumped the already-off-balance Gabrielle on her butt.

"Bwaah!" Getting the horse again under control, Gabrielle trotted her back up to Xena's side and gave a whistle of her own. Nothing happened. "What? Oh, you little traitor. I thought we were friends now, Argo."

Not bothering to hide her smugness, Xena said, "Nice try, but she's not going to bare her teeth at me. I'm her favorite."

Gabrielle stuck her tongue out, for once acting younger than her age, and Xena snorted. At least her companion wasn't feeling nervous that she could tell.

In time, four figures stepped out of the trees on either side of the road ahead of them, all wearing something green and something sharp. "Halt there. State your business."

Gabrielle lazily halted Argo after a few more steps, and Xena stopped one step farther ahead than her with a warning scowl… then a slow smile. She let the old, witchy warlord energy shine through, augmented by hair she'd ruffled to a state of disarray.

"I azzume you're Alec's boyz? Judging by your quaint little... aeszzsthetic."

Xena allowed herself an eye twitch, hoping it would add to her "unpredictable savage" act. What on earth and Olympus was that accent? It sounded like nothing in Xena's prodigious experience.

"Uh." The one who had spoken, presumably the leader of the little squad, seemed taken aback by them both. "You must be the foreign dealer. Right? Good. Follow me, and you can see Alec."

On the short trip, Gabrielle managed to breeze through the men's probing questions while Xena examined their path. A boulder and some carefully strewn branches hid the trailhead, and though their horses could climb the hillside, stolen carts would never have fit. The bandits must have had other camouflaged paths and stashes around.

The actual camp consisted of a mean little collection of hovels and a guard tower, well-camouflaged, all of it nestled in the hills and shielded from the road. With few visible defenses other than the tower, and taking into account all she had learned so far, Xena judged them up-jumped bandits with delusions of organized raiderdom. But she had to admit they picked a good spot to hustle people from the trade road.

"Guests!" boomed a voice from inside a nearby hut, and out stepped a tall, thin man with a shock of dark hair, a clean shaven face, and an oily grin. A vest of embroidered green covered his chainmail coat and highlighted the broadness of his shoulders. He would be sinewy under that armor, and he moved with a poise Xena associated with nimble fighters. "You must be Queen Lena. Please, dismount. I'll have a boy tend to your horses." He motioned someone over, and their escort left them to return to the road.

Gabrielle's lip curled. "Iz that really how you pronounze my name?"

The man grinned like a boy trying to charm his way out of a tanned backside. "No, just a test, Queen Velna. If you agreed, you'd have an arrow in you by now." He negligently gestured at the guard tower, where Xena could see a dappling of sunlight pierce the heavy shade to shine off a well-oiled bow oriented their way. She couldn't even see the arrowhead thanks to the tower's thick covering of leafy branches.

Between that and the close call with the name, Xena's body preemptively readied itself for combat, heartbeat ticking up just slightly and her eyes taking in every detail around her.

But she fought that instinct with long experience and looked at Gabrielle to see if she would remain as steady. Calm as could be, she finally got off Argo, and Xena followed suit, both handing the reins to a scruffy teenager in a green headband. At least her sweet but unpredictable mount would be out of the way, and Argo would return with a whistle.

"Then perhap there iz hope for thiz relationzhip after all." Miraculously, no one had mistaken the accent for a head injury thus far.

The tall man even smiled. "Such a fair voice in a fair package." No accounting for auditory tastes, of course. "I'm Iphecles. Second in charge here. After I introduce you to Alec, I'm sure we'll have much to discuss about our… relationship."

Gabrielle's eyebrows raised, and she gifted the man a faint smile along with her hand. He took it and stepped very close to her, only to blink at the way her expression flattened before she yanked her hand back and grabbed his ear with the other one. Body turned out of easy reach, she ground out, "Thiz iz a bizness meeting, not a cattle call. Now where iz Alec?"

Iphecles went to grab at her but stopped short when he saw her menacing shadow reaching for her hilt. He demanded, "Bitch, let go!"

Gabrielle did, then crossed her arms expectantly. A few men around a nearby fire pit poised for action but seemed unsure what to do.

"That one." Iphecles pointed at a hut near the rear and started to stomp toward it, but Xena yanked him back by the shoulder and let Gabrielle proceed first.

With all the menace she could fit into a murmur, she promised into his ear, "If I catch you mooing at her again, I'll slice you into pita meat." Then she gave him a jovial-looking pat on the back as she went to catch up to her companion.

Alec stepped into the sunlight to speak with them. Of a height with Xena, he looked to be a hale 23 summers old or so, with close-cropped brown hair and green eyes. His black leather vest and matching gauntlets, all set with steel rings, were well taken-care-of, but his trousers drew the eye first - a set sewn from a number of fabrics and dyed together to form a striking array of greens.

Iphecles facilitated somewhat chilly introductions, but Alec gamely started, "Queen Velna, you're early! Fair winds from across the seas?"

"Yez. Either my godz or yourz must like thiz deal, no?"

"Hopefully both. Who's your friend?"

Gabrielle drove a stake of chilly silence between them. "Did you not expect a guard with me?"

Alec's smile did not reach his eyes. "I expected a few, but maybe yours is worth more than one?" Xena saw him watch intently as Gabrielle smiled more genuinely back.

"I found her in a fighting ring in Moghador. Mozt effici- bezt killer I have, and loyal. I need no more."

"Well, if your personal entourage needs no more, I hope I can still persuade you to take some to sell."

"Of courze. Long trip to leave with an empty hold, no? Pleaze, show me your goodsz."

While they walked, Xena examined the men. Alec was the younger of the two, and while he would not have his position without some skill at arms, his vanity and manner suggested his real value was in leading and organizing scumbags. He was canny beyond the low cunning common to his type, and he had some charisma to back it. She guessed Iphecles to be his chief sword arm, unafraid to kill and good at it but not stupid.

Rather than taking them to one of the tiny, haphazardly-thatched huts scattered around, Alec and Iphecles brought the women to a neighboring clearing which Xena could smell before she saw. A dozen people crouched in an open-air pen with a little straw for comfort, buckets for the necessary, and nothing for privacy. A motley collection of draft and riding horses milled around a neighboring pen, too small for their number. Argo and Sweetheart were tied outside it, the boy from earlier brushing some burrs from their manes, and a young man in the pen pressed against the side to look at them. A woman rested her hands on his back, whispering to him. Everyone else looked at them with wary, tired eyes, if at all. Xena judged them to be mostly traders, males or couples with older children, and a lone man in an unusual robe. All bruises Xena could see looked to be fading, so there was hope they weren't being regularly beaten, but it was no way to live all the same.

Seeing the stiff set of Gabrielle's shoulders, Xena welcomed the chance to give her a moment by speaking. In a brusque tone and light accent - just a nondescript lengthening of her vowels - she stated, "They're worthless if they're sick."

Iphecles breezed, "They're road-hardy types, and they haven't been here long. Fed and watered regularly. Even a fire at night." Sure enough, there was a pit on the far side of the pen, cold and black now. "And very few accidents in gathering them up. We're getting better at taking everyone alive and unhurt, so the stock should only get better over time."

As his brazen admission of murder sank in for his guests, Alec added, "Oh, and I don't know if you have carts and horses with you, but we have extras to trade away if you need them. And we've found the horses to be good eating, in a pinch."

Even as Xena clamped her jaw on a fresh wash of rage, Gabrielle took a deep breath and began walking a half circle around the human pen, nodding slowly. "Yez… We need to diz- to bargain detailz. Can we return to your cottage?"

Alec clapped his hands, a classic oily salesman under all the leather and metal. "Of course, let's. Your broker suggested me some figures for pricing, but- well, let's discuss." He led the way with Iphecles at his heels. Gabrielle stole a squeeze of Xena's hand before following, but Xena's eyes were on the young man who had stared so longingly at Sweetheart. He was looking right at her, so, still solemn, she winked at him. His eyes widened, and Xena turned away to follow the others, taking a deep breath.

Getting Alec and Iphecles alone in that hut would be a good start. Xena thought if they could take those two out quietly, removing the top brains and brawn of the operation, the scattered remainder would be manageable with some planning. But taking out two without a sound, in close quarters, would be difficult, especially since she wasn't sure if Gabrielle could even help. And either way, there was the problem of the-

"Alec, that guard tower?"

The young man looked at the woman at his elbow. "Yes, Queen Velna?"

Gabrielle put on a winning, charmingly sheepish smile and asked, "May I climb it? I confezz a love of your Greek zcenery. And height. You zee I lack my own." She gestured at her body, the shortest of their foursome by a head, and Alec smiled indulgently.

What was her game?

Alec signaled at the tower. "Of course. We'll wait for you indoors. Perhaps your friend can tell me about where she's from?"

Xena just blinked at him, but he shrugged and turned away anyway. Good, or at least she thought so. Now if only…

"I'll wait for her here." Suspicion narrowed Iphecles' features.

Without comment, Xena followed Alec into his hut. As soon as the door flap closed behind her, she took stock of the room - empty except for a pallet and work table, its windows not facing any other huts - and put the pinch on him when he turned around. He fell to his knees uncomprehending, gasping as they usually did, but Xena didn't ask him anything, just drew her sword and slit his throat. No time to draw this out.

As Alec's form slumped to the ground, she dashed back to the door flap and peeked out. No new movement, but when she focused her senses on that guard tower, she just faintly heard, "...over there?" in a light tone. Then nothing for a long, frozen moment, until a thump reached her ears, as if a man had kicked the side of the tower wall. Iphecles apparently heard nothing, and Xena heard nothing more.

Had Gabrielle subdued the archer somehow, or had the opposite happened? Was she still sweet-talking him up there? What would he do to her if Xena acted? What did Gabrielle expect? Variables raced through her mind in an instant, and then she swept out of the hut on silent feet to dash across the clearing and slam her pommel into the base of Iphecles' skull. When he went down, a cry went up from the fire pit, and two of the three men there raced her way. Two more ran out of other huts, and the third man by the pit hesitated, then ran for the path their earlier escort had taken to leave.

An arrow caught the runner right in the ass, and Xena had to assume Gabrielle was fine up in her tower. She met the two men from the fire pit by dodging one club and getting another stuck on her sword. While they three danced, a man from a hut came up behind her only to have arrows land at his feet. It gave Xena time to beat the one man with his own club - which also removed it from her sword - and cross weapons with the second one so she could subsequently kick him between the legs. He went down hard, and Xena turned to the man from behind.

Gabrielle let him through and took the last man from a hut down with an arrow to the leg. Xena's opponent had started bellowing, though, and she wagered their earlier escort would not be long. When he swung his sword from above, she caught his wrist, flipped him, and slammed his forearm in to break his sword arm. As he howled, she kicked him in the head, and then the two club-wielders were stumbling back to their feet.

With a grim face, Xena raised her sword, and they sat back down. She blinked, but Gabrielle tossed a rope down to her, and she hastily tied them together back-to-back as the final four men ran up the path.

No sweat. She wasn't tired at all yet.

Gabrielle aimed arrows at their feet to stagger their approach to Xena, and one arrow actually stuck a man through the thickest part of his foot.

"I'm out!" yelled Gabrielle.

"I got it!" replied Xena with a feral grin, and she swung at the first man.

* * *

Gabrielle glared at the hog-tied archer as one of the formerly-imprisoned men helped her lower him to the ground. Charming the bandit into pointing out some pretty landmark had been easy, but, gods, choking him out had been hard. Even with his breath taken away by a cheap, double-fisted swing to the gut, and even though she had slipped fully behind his bent form to take the best hold of his neck, managing his wriggling took every bit of strength this young body had, with all of her technique besides.

And then that bow! She was hardly a crack shot on her best day, so shooting with these arms was a challenge. Truthfully, she hadn't meant to actually hit as many men as she had.

It all had reminded her, forcefully, of the time she and Xena shared a single body in pursuit of Ambrosia. After those few minutes, she marvelled for weeks at the things Xena had made her fit-but-exhausted form do. Even though she lacked Xena's stature and iron muscle, Velasca had stood no chance in the face of the way Xena wielded her, and now Gabrielle thought she had a little better understanding of how it was possible.

She also thought she might need a nap, but there was work yet to be done. Even with a dozen hill bandits already dispatched, only two fatally. None by her hand, even if it would have been easier to knife the archer than wrestle him; she had not missed Xena's anxiousness when she asked about his fate.

The former prisoners were eager to help sort out their captors, albeit Milo the bowyer's son, Coren, had an emotional reunion with Sweetheart first. His wife Leah had met eyes with Gabrielle just then, and they shared a moment of kinship in their exasperation. Horse people, hopeless, all of them. Not that she didn't miss Rex...

"That's the last scumbag," announced Xena as she sauntered over. "We can put him over the back of a horse and send him down the hill with the others." Sure enough, a woman was leading a bay mare over from the far side of the clearing, around a towering pyre.

"Did they find their carts?"

Xena smiled easily. "Oh yeah. Carts, goods - mostly eaten, if they were edible, but still better than I or they expected. One guy absolutely flipped about a little wooden box." She and the man who had helped Gabrielle hefted the archer onto the mare like so much flour, and the woman led the horse and man off.

Gabrielle turned to Xena, who faced her as well, now in a bubble of quiet. "Must've been important to him."

"Or expensive. Anyway, I'm sending them all back the way we came. It's a lot closer than the next town out this way, and the law there can sort everyone out and send out a patrol to catch any real slaver queens coming up the road from the coast."

"What about the bandits' inside man?"

Xena shrugged. "Even if the town can't figure out who it is, there's no one to rat out to anymore, and no one to pay him."

Gabrielle cocked her head. "True. And a jerk like that is bound to get caught doing something scummy eventually."

"Yep. Hey, listen." Xena laid a hand on Gabrielle's arm. "You did a great job. I don't know if you need to hear that from me, but- yeah. Kept yourself safe except for when you went up the tower and gave me a heart attack, and you gave me every opening."

Gabrielle beamed. "I always need to hear that from you. And it's my job to watch your back, remember? You taught me - will teach me - everything I need to know to do it."

"Then I'm lucky to have you as a student. Even if your accents are…" Xena made a pained face.

"Hey, it worked, didn't it?"

"Somehow."

"Well, thank you for trusting me anyway. If you had waited for me to come down, it would have been awkward." Gabrielle went up to her toes and kissed Xena, short and sweet, and Xena returned it in kind.

A little while and one change of clothes later, the freed men and women had a motley caravan ready to move out. The intact parts of Gabrielle's borrowed wardrobe rode with them, a few patched-up bandits lay in a cart, a nauseous Iphecles among their number, and the rest were tied in a line behind the last cart, ready to walk to their legal imprisonment.

The only remaining piece of business was Xena's farewell to Sweetheart, which involved a lot of scritches and a solid head-butt from the horse. Leah and Gabrielle shared another fondly exasperated look over the scene, and this time Argo snorted as well. But then Xena and Gabrielle moved on in the opposite direction.

Xena said, "Remind me to tell the next town about that slaver. If the other one doesn't catch her, and if she really is out there, they need to be on the lookout."

"Sure. You positive you don't want to go with them and watch Milo greet his family?"

"Ain't it enough it's happening? Besides, they'd all try to reward us again. Even those guys tried to give us their stuff."

"I just kind of wanted to see your face when Milo hugged you." Gabrielle grinned at the droll look she received, and on they went.


	11. Chapter 11: Aion

**Note: **Sorry for the wait! To be honest, the next chapter gave me fits, and I couldn't decide whether to move some things between this one and that one for pacing reasons. The wait shouldn't be that long again!

**Chapter Eleven: Aion**

The older Xena and younger Gabrielle rode out to the declining town where they had lunch two days previously. The whole trip, Gabrielle couldn't stop thinking about what they had just seen and learned at the rustic little shrine. Like that she could thank the gods and their games for this preview of her future, and she had them to curse for the fact that she was going to forget it all. Soon, she and her younger Xena would be back to blithely traipsing around the countryside, ignorant of what they could have and who they could be.

But Gabrielle _did _have to go back; she couldn't screw this up and maroon her older self in the past. So as she and Xena dismounted and tied their horses up outside of town, she resolved to focus on their god-given task and what was going on around them.

It was a little while after midday, and Xena had changed into a belted, rust-red tunic and a satchel carrying Janus' little fraud. The square was quite a bit more lively this time, with some sort of minor festival going on, and Gabrielle cheered up a little when she haggled a good sale price for their fresh wolf furs. Even better, she turned a portion of their gains into a late lunch: skewers of fresh, hot lamb and vegetables.

The food also gave the travelers an excuse to wander slowly along the couple rows of stalls without talking to anyone.

"Xena." Gabrielle turned her head to speak and let her eyes wander over her companion for the dozenth time since she had put on that tunic. Though accustomed to seeing her garbed as a warrior, in her shift, or naked, seeing her dressed like a villager was throwing Gabrielle for a loop. She stood freshly-washed and hair still braided, and the warm color of the tunic complimented her skin tone and contrasted the cool blue of her eyes. It did absolutely nothing to hide her musculature or the breadth of her shoulders, however, and Gabrielle found herself glad for that, regardless of their desire to blend in with regular villagers.

"Yeeees?" Xena's eyebrow had crawled well up her forehead since Gabrielle last looked at her face.

"Uh." A few somewhat annoyed revelers dodged around them, and she realized they had stopped walking. "Sorry. Did you see that table around the last corner? There were some robed people behind it, and they didn't seem to be selling anything."

Xena cocked her head. "Across from the weapon booth?"

"Yeah. Should we check it out again? What did you think?"

The warrior smiled with something like chagrin and glanced away for a moment. "I didn't look closely; there was a weapon booth. So good catch." She fully grinned when Gabrielle gave her an exasperated look. "C'mon."

The table was indeed staffed by a pair of acolytes, a man and a woman in dark, functional robes. And now that there weren't people between it and Gabrielle she could see a sign leaned against the front:

DEMONSTRATION OF GODLY POWERS

TEMPLE OF AION

PRIMORDIAL MASTER OF UNBOUNDED TIME

REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED

Once the travelers let the acolytes snare their attention, the robed pair extolled the benevolent power of Aion and promised a magnificent visitation from their god, a show of his dominion over time. It would be at the temple that evening, as the main daytime amusements wound down at the festival. Xena and Gabrielle made sure to get directions to that temple even as they - with Gabrielle following Xena's lead - affected benign disinterest.

They sought out the building shortly after but dodged right back around the corner they had turned to find it.

"Is that the only inhabited place on that street?" whispered Gabrielle, incredulous. It was practically an alley, a narrow dead-end in the oldest part of town. The tiny buildings were in varying states of disrepair, and the only movement came from a robed acolyte standing outside a crooked door.

"Probably, but come on. Can't get noticed loitering here." They resumed a casual stroll past the intersection. "I guess there's a reason for the follower contest with Janus. The Romans around here don't seem to care much about the primordial gods. Or Titans or whatever they call themselves."

"Is it." Gabrielle hesitated. "If the acolytes are so desperate for support, and they're going to bring a bunch of strangers out here, is it really okay to steal from them so they fail?"

"They're not promising to bring back the dead, Gabrielle. Worst they got coming to them is probably some rotten fruit."

"Oh."

Xena sighed through her nose. "Look, I know this isn't exactly heroic, but we can't solve everyone's problems, and these guys did steal that artifact in the first place." She looked at Gabrielle until their eyes met, earnest and not happy.

"I guess that makes sense," Gabrielle admitted. "And we're innocents caught in the middle this time. We have to look out for each other."

"Exactly." They walked in companionable silence for a few houselengths. "It's a shame I can't just rob 'em. Knock the guy right over, steal it, and run off. Wouldn't even have to hurt him."

Gabrielle patted her shoulder. "Yeah, we can't get caught near that thing or they might guess we messed with it and test it. There's no spectacle for Janus if they call off the show."

"Yep, and no telling what he'd do about that."

"Probably make us think we spent three days mucking stables for baked mushrooms." They both made a face. Neither liked mushrooms all that much, though Gabrielle found ways to make them edible anyway, often hiding slivers of them in soups. It had not taken her long to learn that even noble vagrants could not afford to turn down good forage.

"Eugh. Plus, this is a lot of town to have to run through with guards on our tails. You got any ideas?"

Gabrielle turned her head to better boggle. "Me?"

"Hey, I'm the muscle in this outfit, and muscle is out for this plan."

"Xeenaa." The smartest person she had ever met was really trying to call herself just 'the muscle.'

"What? The temple is little and backs right up to the building behind it, so I can't break in the back. And I can't think of anything good to tell that guy to make him walk away."

Gabrielle started really chewing on the problem. "A bribe?"

"Eh, I don't like the chances of that working with these true believer types. And that's apparently all Aion has left in this town."

"Wait. Didn't the guy at the table say there would be food later?"

"Yeah, how else are they going to get people to come to a back alley temple? A cockamamie story about a magic artifact ain't gonna cut it."

"Where do you think it's coming from? I didn't see room for a kitchen in the temple."

* * *

"Hello again, Drusus," greeted Xena as they approached the bar. The quiet inn where they had eaten a few days ago - the only open inn in town - was now bustling with drinkers and deal-makers, and the curly-haired innkeep looked… pained?

"Uh, hello." He squinted at Xena, then looked at Gabrielle and widened his eyes again. "Oh, you two! You look different out of leather. Did you find the temple?" The question was brisk and the smile afterwards tight.

"Yes, actually. We wanted to thank you."

"Oh, no trouble. You're wel-"

A man at the bar asked, "Drusus, can I get a refill?"

"Sure, sure." The innkeep took the man's mug, sniffed, froze a moment, and then dropped it to hurry to the back. As he did, the air brought Xena the scent of burning bread, then the sound of quiet cursing.

When Drusus came back out, Gabrielle asked, "Are you all right?"

"Fine! Just tell me, what can I get you two?"

"Funny story," Gabrielle started with a sheepish grin.

"My refill?" asked the man with the mug, and two more around him lifted theirs as well.

"Just a moment, ladies." Drusus started filling mugs and pocketing dinars.

Gabrielle prodded Xena with her elbow and said to Drusus, "Sure. Just a busy night, or what?"

"Big order I gotta take out to a temple later, plus the out-of-towners here. Thought they would eat and drink more festival stuff tonight, not my victuals."

"Aah. Well, like we said, we found our temple, but this trip has put us back more than we would have liked. We actually came back here to pick up some odd jobs."

Finished dispensing ale, Drusus looked up. "Yeah?"

"Yep. You seem to be kind of rushed. Could you use a hand?" There was Xena's smooth little swindler. Gabrielle's sincere delivery made the warrior have to fight the tug of a grin.

Pained indecision scrunched Drusus' face. He hardly knew them from a hole in the ground, but they were giving him their most polite and upstanding looks, and he was clearly suffering. "What can you do?"

Xena cleared her throat. "Gabrielle here can cook better than most. Fast, and in bad conditions, if necessary. You probably don't want me in the kitchen, though."

Gabrielle turned her head and gave her a tiny shove. "You can't be that hopeless. You were raised in an inn."

"And I can tap kegs and pour ale like a professional."

Drusus asked, "You any good at counting?"

While Gabrielle's eyebrow twitched and she bit her lip, Xena answered, "...Yes."

"Then serve this crowd while your friend and I get to work in the kitchen. I can't pay you much, but I'll feed you, give you two ales apiece, and let you have a few dinars from this food order."

"Deal. We can deliver it, too," Xena volunteered. "I'm sure you'd rather not leave this place tonight."

"For that, you'll get an extra dinar." Drusus told Xena the prices for the drinks, left her some change in a clean mug, and told her to just tell them what food was needed and he would price it out then.

* * *

In the kitchen, Gabrielle got to washing and slicing vegetables while Drusus put some in a stew and grilled the others on skewers with a tangy-smelling sauce. And a while later, Xena and Gabrielle left for the temple with a pot full of skewers and a basket of slightly over-browned flatbread, plus a few dinars. The rest of their pay waited for them at the inn, along with a dinner they intended to miss. They had each managed to quaff an ale at least.

At the temple, the same acolyte stood, bored, in front of the door. Getting closer, Gabrielle could see he had sandy hair down to his chin, with a slight wave, and pointed features.

"Ave, cleric," Xena projected at the young man from partway down the road. Both women wore friendly looks, and the acolyte received them with watchfulness but no evident concern. "We have a delivery for you."

"About time! Uh, not that you've done anything wrong; I was just getting worried."

Gabrielle offered, "Drusus is drowning in customers. If his food does half as well over here, I think you'll have a good night."

"I hope you're right. I'll ta-"

"What's it all for, anway?" Holding the basket of bread casually against her hip, Gabrielle looked up at the man with wide, interested eyes that she hoped displayed no guile at all. Which wasn't too hard; she really did want to know about this temple.

"It's for the glory of Aion, god of unbounded time. He presides over many great mysteries and gifts us the endless cycle that is the pattern and passing of years."

"You mean like the seasons? Summer before Fall, that sort of thing?"

"Yes!"

"But I thought the seasons had to do with Demeter and Persephone?"

The acolyte gave a patient smile. "Other gods shape the seasons; Aion ensures they occur."

"Riiight." Gabrielle cocked an eyebrow and looked innocently confused as Xena shifted at her side. "I have to think about that more. But wait. What about Cronus and Janus? Don't they also do time things?"

"The long answer would take a while, but to start: Cronus was older. He sired Demeter in the first place, actually. Then-"

As he spoke, Xena shifted the earthenware in her hands and rocked her weight from foot to foot. With a murmur, she interrupted, "'Scuse me, this is heavy," and sidled right past the obliging acolyte and into the temple.

Gabrielle tried to look extra interested as the man laid out his sect's understanding of the various gods of time and fate and their effects on the earth. He grew more animated and open, using his hands to speak, which leant him the air of an excited boy instead of a dour cleric. Partway through the explanation, Xena leaned out, took Gabrielle's basket of bread with a smile, and ducked back into the door.

"...and Janus, in contrast, er-" The acolyte started, then began to turn and look in the door.

"Wait, so Janus is the whole past-to-present-to-future guy?" Gabrielle asked.

The man turned back to her. "That's Cronus. Let me try again…"

Just a few words later, Xena ambled out the door and circled them to stand behind Gabrielle and wrap her arms around her shoulders, surrounding her with warmth and the scent of sun-warmed skin. "Phew, my arms have had enough, between slinging mugs all afternoon and then carrying that crock across town." She rested her chin against Gabrielle's head even as Gabrielle began to comprehend the feeling of Xena's front pressed against her back with only cloth between them. "Are you two almost done philosophizing?"

Gabrielle couldn't form words to answer, but thankfully, after a long moment, the acolyte delivered some through a tiny frown. "Won't you stay for the demonstration? You delivered the food, and I really think you'll like it. You have such good questions." His look turned a little longing as his eyes moved from Xena's face to Gabrielle's.

Xena replied, "Mm, I'm sure she does. But we've got someplace to be. Can you check that everything is okay so we can tell Drusus?"

The young man looked between them with an unreadable look, nodded, and then went inside.

Xena murmured, "Was he flirting with you?"

"I-I don't think so?" Gabrielle whispered back. Her thoughts, which had been bouncing off the inside of her skull like gnats, reluctantly settled around the question. "I don't think people ask for his whole pitch very often."

"Ah. Well, I meant to give you an out from flirting. But maybe we widened his horizons a little either way." She gave Gabrielle a squeeze, and alongside the heat that Xena's proximity caused her, a softer kind of warmth bloomed in her chest.

Just then, the acolyte appeared with a more relaxed look. "Everything seems to be in order. Come back if you can!"

Gabrielle was reluctant to lose the feeling of being draped in Xena, but nonetheless they both left after a polite farewell.

They beelined out of town and to their hidden horses, but once there, Xena settled an arm around Gabrielle's shoulders. "Good work. Couldn't have done it without you." She punctuated the compliment with a kiss atop Gabrielle's head.

"Aww, c'mon, Xena." Gabrielle could feel the flush on her cheeks. "It wasn't anything you couldn't have done on your own."

"You spotted the acolytes before I did. And _if_ I could have charmed the innkeeper, I still couldn't be in two places to help him, nor cook, and I certainly couldn't have talked to that boy as my own distraction."

"Okay, so I helped," Gabrielle admitted, now fighting a grin. "You would have found a different way."

"Maybe, but not as good." Xena let the blunt compliment sit out in the open for a few moments, in which Gabrielle did not know how to respond. "Gabrielle, you've always brought something to this partnership. So I taught you to fish and fight, so what. I'd probably have worms or something if I didn't have you to take care of me, and that's if I somehow wasn't dead."

Unsure how to vocalize the sudden swell of pride, affection, and content in her chest, Gabrielle turned in Xena's grasp to hug her fiercely, and Xena scratched her back as she returned the gesture.

Gamely, Xena asked, "So, do you want to try the thing we stole?"

Gabrielle pulled back to look at her twinkling eyes, and they made her feel a bit reckless. "Yes. I really do. I think we deserve it." Janus never said they couldn't.

"That's the spirit. Always tweak a god if you can get away with it, Gabrielle; it's good for them. Let's do it now, before we head back." Xena sat against a tree and took a wooden box out of her satchel. Finely made, it was plain other than curious swirls carved into the lid.

Gabrielle sat cross-legged in front of Xena and let out an, "Oooh," when she opened the box. Inside, some kind of flat stone lay flush with the sides. It was deep black with green veins and a few white speckles. "How do you use it?"

"Maybe you just put something on it? Or touch it to the surface?" Xena put the open box on the ground between them. And they stared at it.

"What should we test?"

"Well, we know where you come from, and I know all I need to about my parents. So that's pointless."

"Do you have something neat that you found somewhere, maybe?"

"Nah, closest thing is the chakram, and I've been to where that's from. You really got nothin'?"

Gabrielle nodded solemnly, and Xena shrugged. She pulled a flatbread out of her satchel and laid it on the strange stone.

About a foot above the box, faint but distinct images flashed: A rolling field of wheat, a well, a salt mine, a miller and a mill. And ants among the grain on the milling surface as the giant stone rolled their way.

"Ew!" Gabrielle exclaimed as the box moved on to showing Drusus handling dough, and Xena laughed. The images stopped, and Gabrielle's jaw dropped as Xena picked up the bread and bit it. "Xena, why!"

"Oh, bugs aren't bad for you, Gabrielle!" She swallowed. "And these have been crushed and kneaded and baked. Can't even taste 'em."

"I guess..."

"Besides, you've probably eaten more ants in your sleep this month."

"What?"

"We sleep on the ground, sweetheart; it probably happens."

"What?!"

* * *

At the end of a long day of planning, pretending, fighting, doctoring the wounded, organizing the nearly-enslaved people and prisoners, and then finally a few hours of traveling, even the younger Xena's body wanted to become one with the log upon which it sat. She spent as much time gazing at the fire as cleaning her armor and thought Gabrielle must be ready to keel over, even though she had engaged in a lot less physical fighting and lifting.

Sure enough, the younger woman was yawning her way through cooking a meal, stirring a pot with a little less than her usual enthusiasm.

"Hey," Xena said, half just to make sure Gabrielle didn't fall asleep into the fire. "I need to buy a new whetstone at the next town if they have them. After we tell them about those slavers."

"I'll remind you if I'm still here." Gabrielle's tired smile prevented any flippancy from coming through.

Later, somewhat refreshed after eating and cleaning up, Xena sat on her furs and began to inventory her medicine bag. Gabrielle, shift-clad as Xena was, then walked around to sit behind her. Gabrielle slid her arms around Xena's middle and snuggled her head against the center of her back with a squeeze and a long sigh. Cozy.

Xena smiled despite herself, guessing how loud the beating of her heart must be against Gabrielle's ear. "Tired?"

A hand casually cupped her breast, and she chuckled. She felt light and even a little giddy through her own sleepiness. "Are you saying you want me to tire you out?" Rest could definitely wait.

Gabrielle kissed the back of her shoulder and squeezed her tightly again. "I'd really like that… even if you pretend not to hear me when I ask for your fingers inside me."

Xena could hear the grin in the younger woman's voice, but she still felt herself stiffen and blush, the latter thankfully hidden in the dimness of night. She just hadn't wanted… not with Gabrielle's borrowed body…

Gabrielle chuckled at her and nipped a bit of skin on her shoulder. "You're so sweet." Sweet? "Not only do I forgive you, but before I ravish you in these furs, I want to do something you might like even better." Ravish?

"What- better? Than sex?" Than ravishment by Gabrielle?

Gabrielle asked, "When was the last time you had a back rub?"


	12. Chapter 12: Janus and Aphrodite

**Chapter Twelve: Janus and Aphrodite**

Janus received the satchel with his genuine artifact with happy-faced glee, followed by the snide crowing of his angrier visage.

"I hope a god so into cycles can see the cycle of me always kicking his ass! This is what happens when he plays with his betters!" Nasty laughter followed the taunt, and Xena didn't bother hiding her grimace. Was she this obnoxious in her more vindictive, ruthless schemer days?

"That acolyte didn't get hurt, did he?" asked Gabrielle, biting her lip. On the ride and walk back, she had grown more and more distracted and reticent.

Janus waved his hand. "Mostly his pride."

"Mostly?"

"They stole from me first, remember? Turnabout is fair play. That's a popular phrase from the future."

Xena interjected, "You got what you wanted. Now how are you going to fix Gabrielle?"

Happy Janus whirled back to the fore. "It's less disruptive to do it while you all sleep, and for such a job well done, that's what you deserve. The memory repairs are smoother that way, as well."

Gabrielle asked, "So I really am going to forget all this?"

"You won't miss a tic, and you'll get it all back tomorrow!" answered Janus, heedless of the crushed look in the young woman's eyes.

Aphrodite appeared between them. "It's for the best. I'm sorry, little one, but you don't want the Fates cranky at you or anyone else." The sympathy looked genuine.

"Yeah… yeah, okay," replied Gabrielle glumly, looking down.

Xena put an arm around her and rubbed her shoulder.

"You're all dismissed. Nice doing business with you!" Janus popped out of view and, as far as Xena could guess, out of their lives for the time being.

Aphrodite sighed at the spot he had left. "Well, that whole thing blew." She looked at the couple. "Gabrielle, I really didn't want to freak out baby-you on purpose. But it's almost over."

Gabrielle looked up again. "Well, I was upset at first, but…" finally, a sad smile peeked through, "but this has been amazing. This Xena, this me, meeting real gods that aren't trying to make Xena kill me - I liked that."

Aphrodite smiled. "Good. Tell you what. Follow me." Of course, rather than walking, she just popped off somewhere in the woods and sent up pink lights for them to follow. They picked up their horses on the way, and the lights led them to a dry-looking cave with a spring flowing nearby and some grasses the horses would find appealing.

When they left the horses to enter the cave, a waiting Aphrodite made an expansive gesture. "Consider this me making it up to you. Here are some fresh offerings to me from near your hometowns." With a wave of her hand, food, candles, and a wineskin appeared on a half-toppled stalagmite that made for a crude table. "You can have them, and I'm claiming this cave as under my protection. Only Janus' power will affect you here, because I allow it. And if Aion gets a fly up his toga about the thingie he stole, I'll tell him to buzz off."

Xena looked away from inspecting the food just in time to see Aphrodite wink at Gabrielle before disappearing. She eyed the now-empty spot with intense suspicion.

"Uh… anything good?" asked Gabrielle after a pause.

"Yeah, actually. There's a meat pastry we can split to start. Come on, let's get the horses squared away and set up camp so we can eat; I'm starving."

Awash in candlelight that glittered off the cave walls, they went about their reduced list of chores, and Gabrielle began to shift from morose to a little agitated. As she got a small fire going in the mouth of the cave, she suddenly asked, "Xena, what was it like when we got together?" Their eyes met, and stress was written clearly in green.

Xena, off-balance, finished laying out their furs together as she considered how to answer and why Gabrielle had asked. She stood, turned, and went with a blunt, "Well we didn't waste any time. The first night was incredible," and watched the other woman's face.

Gabrielle blinked, gave a tiny nod as if unsure how to respond, and got up to pour them wine from the gifted skin. Once they sat together on low rocks with the big, wooden platter of food on their knees, she asked, "And after that?"

Warm laughter bubbled out of Xena, almost making her spit out her wine. "We were absolutely no good to anybody for a solid three weeks. All I had to do is give you a look and a nudge, and you'd just about bowl me over into our furs." Lost in memory, she let a toothy grin take over her face until Gabrielle scooted closer with an intrigued expression.

"Was it always you… giving that look?"

Xena fed her a grape, flustering her, and shook her head. She was happy enough to indulge Gabrielle's apparent desire for distraction as they ate. "No, you would run your hands through my hair or lean up on me with a cute little look through your eyelashes, and I was yours."

They ate in silence for a bit, until Gabrielle broke off a tiny hunk of cheese and turned toward Xena, placing a hand on her shoulder. She said, "Xena, try this one," and leaned in close to deliver the tidbit.

The warrior obligingly took it from her fingers with her teeth and chewed, savoring the nutty flavor. She glanced down at Gabrielle, who still leaned on her while looking up at her face, wistful and...something else. It shamed Xena to admit it even to herself, but it was getting to her. Most of her only saw her wife giving her that look, not her young friend. But she still managed a neutral tone with, "That is good."

"So I used to bowl you over? Literally?" The image seemed to tickle Gabrielle, who settled more firmly against her.

Xena smiled. "Sometimes."

"You must have loved me, to let me do that. Did you bowl me over?" Now mischief sparkled in Gabrielle's eyes.

"Sometimes, but what I actually figured out I liked to do was this." With that, Xena set aside her cup and their shared platter and, as she stood, scooped Gabrielle up under her knees and back.

"Wha-" Gabrielle blushed and hastily clung to Xena's shoulders as they moved over to their furs - then giggled when Xena spun them around before sitting down. She wound up cradled in long arms and legs. "Okay, this is ridiculously cozy."

"Yeah, you thought I did this because it was romantic, but it's mostly just 'cause you're so warm all the time." Belying the teasing, she gathered the younger woman in a long cuddle, trying to bestow her some peace. She rubbed her arm and lazily scratched her back, all the while resting her head against Gabrielle's temple. Some tension leached away from them both, displaced by the warmth and close contact.

When they pulled back, Gabrielle kept her right arm around Xena's back but seemed unsure what to do with her left, which was impossibly endearing. She caught Xena's indulgent look and elevated an eyebrow at her. They smiled.

Gabrielle finally put her hand to work toying with Xena's braid, loosened from her long afternoon tending bar and horse-riding. Gentle, patient fingers ran through the entwined locks, undoing the pattern, and it struck Xena as quite a bit more intimate than when Gabrielle had braided it in the first place. She felt breath on her cheek when Gabrielle shifted a certain way, their bodies nestled together comfortably, and she couldn't help but notice that the candlelight turned green eyes to bits of amber set in a gold-tinged face.

Eventually, Gabrielle brushed Xena's hair back so she could seal the job with a kiss on her cheek. In Xena's peripheral vision, Gabrielle then hesitated to pull fully back, attention apparently caught by something- apparently by the indent behind Xena's jaw and under her ear, on which she planted another sweet kiss. One so like countless others she would give and had given her companion. Making the older woman think of the countless times she had loved this body, how she had its touch imprinted on every inch of her skin. She closed her eyes in reflex, and when she looked next, she met a brief, searching gaze.

Without another word, Gabrielle leaned in for a kiss on the lips. They traded a few for a while, along with light touches, Gabrielle mapping Xena's sculpted cheekbones, her jaw, the column of her neck, and her shoulders. Xena exchanged touch for touch at first but then sank into the affection and growing heat of the moment until she noticed her own free hand was resting on Gabrielle's waist, thumb tickling her ribs as her palm slid upwards.

She pulled away to meet shining eyes that flicked down toward the wandering hand before locking with her own. Xena's instincts insisted they knew exactly how to respond to a lapful of affectionate, clearly-wanting Gabrielle.

Hushed, the younger woman spoke, "I feel so safe like this." It was a statement, but her face implored Xena for something.

She could only think to say, "You are safe."

Gabrielle nodded. "And this feels- amazing." She swiftly kissed Xena again, this time pressing to deepen it. Xena acceded to the demand and let her hand complete its motion by sliding up Gabrielle's side and teasing the bottom and side of her breast. The younger woman gasped against Xena's lips, and the warrior took the opportunity to move down and taste her neck instead. The teasing attention she knew her wife liked earned a little moan, and as Gabrielle's hand slid down to start exploring her curves, she felt the situation slipping on the barest edge of her control. But she didn't want to stop, couldn't bear to push Gabrielle away from the energy flowing between them right now, so instead she kissed her soundly and let her own groan push their entanglement into urgency.

Absorbed in the give and take of the kiss, Xena didn't think before her hand moved with purpose, finally giving Gabrielle's breast the direct attention it deserved. An appreciative noise propelled her touch down and over a firm hip before reversing course just above a pale knee. Finally, when her fingers toyed with the hem of Gabrielle's chiton and caused a squirm, and the ghosting of her thumb on the inside of a thigh caused them to fall open to her, she realized she'd already given in.

Xena pulled away from the kiss to look into a face now truly lust-addled. Not only could she never leave her beloved wife like this, younger or not, her own tunic sat loose and askew on her shoulders, and she wasn't even sure when it had happened. So she simply laid Gabrielle down on their furs and slowly settled against her, watching for the slightest trepidation. Instead, as she began to slide her leg over one of Gabrielle's, the bard wrapped her arms around Xena, hauled her into a kiss, and arched against her firmly enough to startle the warrior.

"Gabrielle," Xena gasped when she managed to come up for air.

"Yeah?" Gabrielle panted. "Did I- is something wrong?"

"No! No, sweetheart." Xena ran a hand over golden locks and along a flushed cheek. Caprice made her kiss the other cheek to draw out a smile. "I just want you to tell me if anything is too much or if you want me to stop or do something different. Okay?"

Green eyes widened, shining. She whispered, "I don't want you to stop."

Xena smiled. "Then I'm yours. Have anything particular in mind?" She felt arms tighten around her, and the pure joy in Gabrielle's expression made her heart stutter. All traces of guilt fled.

"I just want…" her eyes raked as much of Xena's form as she could see

Xena grinned. "You can have all of it."

"Then… show me what to do, Xena? Not just what I might like, but you, too."

"You got it."

* * *

When Xena lowered herself down to kiss her again, Gabrielle tried to express all her passion in the embrace. She fisted her hands in Xena's tunic, kissed her hard, and then started to tentatively shift the leg between Xena's own.

Until the leg between hers went partially up on its knee, and Xena pulled away again. She whispered, "There's no need to rush."

There was no irritation in her face or tone, just affection, but still Gabrielle almost quailed under her. "I- I just-"

Gabrielle faltered and just looked at Xena, who puffed air from her nose, still gazing fondly down.

"Gabrielle, I want to share my body with you and show you how I feel. I want to be close to you and have fun." She moved a hand down toward Gabrielle's side and, on the last word, tickled her, startling out a laugh. "I don't want to rush it. Do you?"

She softened the suggestion of a rebuke by smiling and butting her head into Gabrielle's, and she got a sheepish smile in return. "Not when you put it that way."

"Good. Because this definitely shouldn't be something you need to get over with. If I'm doing that badly, tell me." Xena bent to start nuzzling at Gabrielle's neck.

"It's not that I'm in a hurry, I'm just..."

Xena started a lazy line of kisses along the side of Gabrielle's neck to her throat, pausing to say, "Nervous, I know."

"Aah... I like that. I'm nervous, but I want- you." Even with Xena nibbling her collarbone, saying the words sent a flush rushing right up her chest to overtake her face.

"Good. I want you, Gabrielle, and more than that I want you to have a good time." She licked up the other side of Gabrielle's neck and started nibbling on an earlobe.

Breathily Gabrielle responded, "I'm having a GREAT time."

"Then kiss me," Xena whispered in her ear before leading her on a slow, simmering makeout. One solid kiss preceded an irregular, maddening series of light brushes and nibbles of her lips, followed by, finally, a deeper liplock. A hand ghosted up Gabrielle's side, lighting up her senses until it tickled her ribs and made her squirm. Xena chuckled and moved to tease her jaw, finding a very sensitive spot to lavish.

Gabrielle closed her eyes with the pleasure of it until Xena's mouth moved to her shoulder, where she used her teeth to worry at the ties of her chiton.

Gabrielle's breathing sped up. Xena was starting to undress her. With her teeth. The thrill and excitement only increased when Xena took a moment to playfully growl into her neck, and Gabrielle giggled with sheer giddiness.

She had worried maybe the wanting would abate at a certain point, that nervousness would truly take over as it had in her few dalliances with boys. But this was Xena, who knew her and cared for her and was just so-

The knot on her chiton came undone. Xena's hand came up to touch the edge of the fabric. Gabrielle's heart thumped like a bird's.

"May I?"

"Yes," Gabrielle answered softly but _very _promptly.

Xena smirked a little as she sat back on her heels and unwrapped Gabrielle like a precious parcel, until only her underwraps remained. She shucked off her own tunic, as well, and when she lay over Gabrielle, the younger woman reveled at the contrast of cool air and warm skin over hers, and the softness where their bodies pressed together, belly-to-belly. It felt so good with no cloth between their torsos, and she let her hands wander Xena's bare, finely-muscled back as they met in another kiss.

If she could go back past her own time and talk to herself from a year before, what would she say about her now lying in a cave like a bear, under a woman as strong as one? But it was wonderful.

Xena shifted to cover Gabrielle's breast with her hand and fondled it lazily, toying with the nipple between her fingers a while before rolling it between finger and thumb.

"Oh!" Gabrielle could exclaim because Xena's lips had moved to her neck. Each roll, harder than she would have thought she would like, sent a jolt through her body that only got better when Xena set her mouth to work on the other breast. Watching those strong, sure hands work her body made her moan, and she couldn't even think straight enough to be self-conscious.

Xena kissed her way down Gabrielle's stomach, got to the edge of the underwraps, hovered there while she tossed up a little smirk… and then moved past them to kiss the top of Gabrielle's thigh. She ignored the younger woman's frown and turned her head to nuzzle further between the thighs to access the sensitive inner skin. She nuzzled and kissed one thigh, then sat up to let her hand play along the other, caressing closer and closer to the cloth-covered apex with each pass.

"Can I take these off?"

"Please." Gabrielle didn't add, 'as fast as possible,' but the words hung in the air all the same, and Xena grinned. Every brush of her fingers left fire on Gabrielle's skin, and when she finally lay again between the thighs she had teased, it occurred to Gabrielle to really think about what Xena was going to do to the flesh she had just bared. She couldn't… with her mouth?

With Gabrielle fully naked, Xena took a moment to kiss the tattoo on her hip before laying on her belly and shifting one of Gabrielle's legs onto her shoulder. Then, sure enough, she started to lick and kiss high up on the thigh, cheek tantalizingly close to wanting skin. Her nose just grazed it when she switched thighs, making Gabrielle whimper. When Xena's mouth hovered right over where Gabrielle now knew she wanted it, she asked, "Still good?"

Gabrielle could only nod and try to communicate with hungry eyes, biting her lip.

Everything about the sensation surprised her. Warmth, and wet, and a softness that nonetheless sparked bolts of pleasure. She had nearly adjusted to the slow, sweet lapping when the warrior shifted closer and employed more pointed, teasing swipes of her tongue. A swipe, and a lick, and she needed more, but she knew Xena was drawing it out on purpose, and the realization sent a fresh wash of heat through her. That and the insistent attention of Xena's tongue and just the sight of this powerful woman conducting intent worship between her legs all built on each other until she was whimpering.

"Oh... oh, Xena," Gabrielle felt like she was losing her mind, "after this - ah, don't freak out, but - I'm going to have to marry you someday."

Xena swiftly shifted to splutter through a laugh and said, "Brave time to joke, considering where my mouth was." More laughter followed.

Bemused at the strong reaction, Gabrielle partly wished she hadn't distracted Xena, but she was relieved to see no anger and hear no real scolding. This moment was stronger than bad jokes, and they were supposed to be having fun, right? The infectious snickering spread a grin over Gabrielle's face, and she decided there was something very right about the sight of the warrior helplessly laughing against her thigh, intimate and comfortable.

"Can I try that on you?"

Xena, laughter having petered out, rested her head on Gabrielle's leg and looked up, flushed with amusement. "You can. It's my favorite thing you do, but you don't have to if you don't want."

"I want to touch all of you."

Xena simply smiled and moved up to lay on her back at Gabrielle's side. "Have at."

Gabrielle sat up and looked over at the woman who had just teased and touched her to near-senselessness. She looked far too peaceful.

Gabrielle took up Xena's nearer hand, kissing its back, and pressed it to her cheek. "Could you take the rest of it off?"

Xena's benign smile widened. "Of course." She did as asked and laid back again.

Gabrielle ran the back of her fingers down Xena's nearer arm, kissed her shoulder, and placed a hand on her belly. The taut skin there hid nothing of the muscle underneath, and Gabrielle felt them twitch under her touch. She trailed the hand up Xena's sternum, cupped her cheek to kiss its opposite, and moved on to touching Xena's breast, first with light fingertips, then palm. Did she moreso enjoy the sensation of it in her hand or the flagging composure on Xena's face? Maybe her lips would break the tie, she thought as she leaned in to mirror what Xena had done to her own chest.

A gratified sigh encouraged her. She imagined she could feel the heat build under Xena's skin as she pressed close, one knee now between Xena's, until her lips called to her again. She could feel the rising passion in the embrace and gathered her body to explore Xena's more - when Xena's hand reached between them to brush the very sensitized skin between her legs.

Gabrielle pulled back but not away. "I thought I was- ah."

"You don't like this?" Xena's fingers dipped into wetness and rubbed against her in earnest, upending her concentration.

"Didn't say that." Gabrielle sat up more, mindlessly seeking a different angle. And when Xena's fingers slid down to circle her entrance, her hips moved on pure instinct to encourage them toward her center. Xena obliged by pressing one long finger inside of her, and she went still at the new sensation.

Quietly, "Is this okay?"

"I thought… I was warned this could hurt."

Xena chuckled. "Not for you with me, love. Not when you're ready like this." She slid a second finger in, drawing out a gratified noise.

"Let me… one sec." She shifted a little bit under Gabrielle and placed her free hand on her hip. "Now sit back… that's it."

Pressure on Gabrielle's hip guided her to sit up and back until the back of Xena's hand met her own thigh - then to lower herself down just a little more, as Xena's hand thrust up. The sensation deep inside made her gasp.

"And again…"

Again with a little direction, Gabrielle lifted up just to bear down again, and again, until she was riding Xena's fingers and thigh with a regular rhythm.

"You like it just like this?"

Gabrielle wasn't sure it was a real question, but she closed her eyes to moan out a, "Yes," ending in a hiss as Xena changed the angle of the fingers inside. A well of pleasure was filling deep within her, while her skin felt like it was on fire, like she must be steaming in the night.

Xena purred, "You're beautiful… all of you, above me, taking your pleasure on my fingers."

Gabrielle's eyes flew open, a wisp of self-consciousness almost breaking her rhythm before Xena gave a particularly hard thrust up into her. She moaned again instead and found herself speeding up as she looked down at her lover, missing Xena's gaze as she let go of Gabrielle's hip to caress up her stomach to her chest. And gods, she knew exactly how to touch her, where to brush her fingertips or squeeze or rake her nails. The well of pleasure inside started to boil, and their eyes met… Xena was laid out under her, bare, hair artfully spread on the furs, and eyes full of naked hunger. Gabrielle had to bite her lip at the sight, their synchronized motion, the determined work of the fingers inside her - and then a new, insistent brushing of fingers over her clit slammed her to the edge of a cliff for a long few moments until she tumbled right off, crying out.

She thought she might have collapsed when the shudders slowed, except a warm body was already there to support her, one arm wrapped around. Xena held her until they stopped and caused one more shiver when she removed her fingers.

"Oh, Xena," Gabrielle breathed against a strong shoulder. Her satisfied body stopped crowding every sense and thought, and she could reflect on the evening for a moment. It took a few seconds to reconcile her self-image, still so tied to the village girl she had been, with that wanton riding of her female lover, but she felt fantastic. And safe in these arms, and happy. She knew if she had even a little trepidation she could have easily gotten up or asked Xena to slow down, but it was inconceivable at the time. And Xena certainly seemed to enjoy it. Gabrielle kissed the neck and shoulder before her, thankful and thrumming with affection. With love, she silently decided, and the revelation softened and shook her tone. "That was… the best. I've never felt like that."

"My pleasure." Xena squeezed her.

"And now… your turn." They both leaned back to meet eyes - serious blue ones probing open, content green ones.

"You sure?"

Gabrielle put her hands on Xena's shoulders and started to press her down to the furs. "I asked to touch you, remember? Before you took control of my body with your fingers."

Xena smirked and laid down with her hands behind her head. "Well, you've known me long enough to know I don't follow instructions well."

"Got me there." A grin took over Gabrielle's face, and followed Xena down to kiss her, enthusiastic and thorough. When she shifted to taste Xena's neck, she moved to the side and trailed her fingers down her throat, over her stomach, to coarse curls, and before she could think about it, to the soft skin below them. It felt familiar but different, and she took her time moving down until she paused in her motions and blinked at the amount of wetness she found there.

All this for her? Xena noticed the stillness and must have taken a guess at its cause. "Hey, if you had seen you a minute ago, you'd be hot all over again, too."

Happiness bubbled anew in Gabrielle's chest, and she just had to kiss Xena again. "If I make you feel half as good as you made me feel, I- I'll… well, let me try." She repeated her earlier journey down Xena's torso, kissing and caressing and then nuzzling her way down her stomach, coming to rest lying on her belly, between Xena's legs. Now very, very close to a very intimate part of Xena's body, she found herself mostly fascinated and hardly hesitated to try a lick. Then another, then a different one.

Gabrielle got a little lost in the feel and taste of her, cataloging the geography and textures with a relaxed thoroughness. In trying to get closer and more comfortable, she wound up looping her arm under and around one of Xena's legs, hiking its compliant weight onto her shoulder and placing her hand on Xena's stomach. She kept exploring until she noticed a vibration under her palm. It seemed some paths and patterns tensed the thigh muscle against her ear and twitched Xena's abdomen.

And one even made her moan.

The sound inspired a rush of power that Gabrielle had never known. Immediately intoxicated, she worked with a new focus, making a game of spelling words and feeling for the telltale quake of muscles under her palm. She learned what swish or press of the tongue worked best to draw forth more gasps and moans in time with the telltale signs of the mounting pleasure she wrought from Xena's body. What made Xena ask for more, yes, that please, as she got breathier and needier.

And once Gabrielle realized that this was going to work, that the warrior was going to come at the mercy of her tongue, she got a little greedy. What would it be like if she used her hand?

She managed to shift to let her free hand caress Xena's entrance, and after hearing an encouraging groan slid a finger inside. The shock of the heat almost threw off her entire rhythm, but she just moaned instead, and Xena began to twitch around her.

"Curl the- inside, yes, don't stop anything," Xena implored, and moments later, Gabrielle got to feel her shudder all around her head and hand.

When the shaking stopped, Gabrielle sat up and wiped her mouth as she drank in the sight of a languid Xena looking up at her with satisfaction. That had been way more fun than she had expected, and her body was humming with it.

"Good job," Xena said a little breathlessly.

"Thank you." Gabrielle smiled and answered the arms that opened for her by curling up to Xena's side.

Xena kissed her and then suddenly rolled her over to her back. With a grin of her own, she asked, "Want me to finish doing that to you?"

"Okay!"

* * *

As they lay in the afterglow, Gabrielle cuddled under Xena's chin and on top of her chest, Xena just caressed her head and back and left her in quiet to reckon with what had just happened. She thought about her own first time - notable in her mind only because it was her first. The aftermath could have been summed up as, "That's it?" Damp, messy, remembering some high points but ultimately determined to find something better. She was absolutely positive she'd outdone her brown-eyed village boy for Gabrielle, though.

Eventually, she asked, "Are you all right?"

Nearly incredulous, Gabrielle asked back, "All right?"

"Yeah. Regretting anything?"

"Regret? Xena, my whole body feels like… mulled wine and a blanket on a winter night. And you feel and smell so good... And I'm safe - l-loved - I don't want to let this feeling go." The wonder-filled rambling broke along with Gabrielle's voice, and Xena responded with a fierce hug.

"You'll have it again. And you won't miss it in the morning."

"I will, though. I just won't know you can give it to me." Gabrielle burrowed into her neck and sniffled.

Oh. "Oh, Gabrielle." Xena set to cuddling and comforting her lover as her mind dove into a revelation. She'd always thought Gabrielle's fixation on those pretty boys was just due to lust and a newfound appreciation for the freedom of the road away from Potidaea. After all, the place had been short on warriors, poets, acolytes - everything but farmers, herders, and tradesmen, really. It was the most natural thing in the world for a young woman of her age to explore her options and the desires of her body. Xena had considered it quite separate from the wanderlust that prompted her to leave a prosperous farm and loving family to wander the world on the heels of a disgruntled, dangerous warlord in the first place. She'd had an intellectual hunger for new experiences and to find her place in the world, and travel afforded her both.

Now, Xena realized all of those desires were connected. Gabrielle had needed new experiences and a purpose but also love and acceptance for who she really was. And it was no accident she found it all at Xena's side. Just as it was no accident Xena found her own guiding light and acceptance in Gabrielle's arms. They were soulmates, after all. And after enough work and heartache, they had truly earned the peace and fulfillment they enjoyed - but the quality of it couldn't have been found just anywhere.

"I love you, Gabrielle. Sleep now. It'll be all right."

* * *

**Note: **Last chapter's short - more of an epilogue, really - so I'll try to get it up quick! Hopefully tomorrow.


	13. Chapter 13: A New Morning

**Note:** To anyone who's made it this far: THANK YOU. Your kudos and especially your comments give me life. Extra appreciated because this is the longest thing I've ever written by a good 20k words or so. I learned a lot about pacing and tried really hard to keep things from being too confusing. Because of course my first novel-length thing involves a body swap and versions of the lead couple from three different time periods.

I am going to have a drink (in my house, appropriately socially distanced).

**Chapter Thirteen: A New Morning**

Xena awoke on her stomach, as she sometimes did, but the sight that met her bleary eyes gave her pause: her young friend Gabrielle, snoozing unusually close and with her head turned toward the warrior. To Xena's embarrassment, she had flung her left arm over the younger woman's middle in the night, and in turn Gabrielle had bent her own left arm up to hold onto the possessive-seeming appendage. When Xena tried to slowly roll away, Gabrielle held the arm a little tighter and even shifted to grasp it above the elbow with her right hand. Xena absently noted that their forearms nested together prettily, duskier skin against pale, warming each other - and then had to mentally shake herself to move onto deciding what to do.

She had to pee, for one thing.

"Hey. Gabrielle." Typical mumbling and whining combatted Xena's quiet cajoling until the younger woman finally opened her eyes and realized what she was doing. Then she turned the shade of watered summer wine and quickly freed her prisoner.

"Uh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean - I didn't know I was clinging to you like that." She finally looked at Xena's gently amused face. With embarrassed chagrin, she repeated, "Sorry I trapped your arm."

"Well, you couldn't hold onto it if I hadn't turned it over. So don't worry about it, Gabrielle." Xena yawned. She sure wasn't bothered about it. She actually felt unusually relaxed, even languorous, so why get into a fuss? "Must've dreamt you were a picnic basket. I'm starving." They both started to get up.

"Me, too, and kinda… sore?"

"Well, you had to go climb that thing yesterday." Xena gestured vaguely.

"Oh… right."

"Anway, you ready for another day of the life? After you stretch out?"

Gabrielle grinned. "Always."

* * *

An older Xena woke in a cozy cave, naked, with Gabrielle tucked against her, and immediately began to rouse her with gentle touches.

Once comprehension lit in Gabrielle's heavy-lidded eyes, they flew open, and she rolled fully on top of her wife to execute a devastating hug. "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too." Xena took a moment to enjoy the full, presumptuous weight of Gabrielle pressing on her rib cage. She also took the liberty of running her hands over her until her grown, un-skittish, self-assured wife hummed in simple contentment. Eventually they sat up, Gabrielle still in her lap, and just looked at one another.

Gabrielle asked, "Do your memories from back then feel weird, too? Old, but also brand new?"

"Yeah, they're pretty clear for how long ago it was."

Gabrielle's eyes danced. "So you remember that bandit camp like I can remember last night, huh? Do you remember how stubborn you were in the days leading up to it?"

"If I was stubborn, then young you-" Xena's mock sternness fell apart as she snorted a fit of laughter. "You were as horny as I was stubborn. One makeout, and when I back off it's, 'Not even to try jogging a memory?' What a little minx."

"Xena!" Gabrielle completely failed to look offended.

"You were an enthusiastic minx. Would you look at all these hickeys?"

Gabrielle did look, then covered her eyes. "Oh, noo, that's so embarrassing."

Xena, laughing, insisted, "Don't be embarrassed. I'm sure Aphrodite appreciated the energy, since the sneak went and turned this cave into a temple. It's just a shame the younger me didn't figure out how much you wanted to bed me sooner."

Gabrielle gathered enough pride back together to tease back, "No, you were too busy glaring all the time."

Xena glared to make Gabrielle laugh and then rubbed noses with her. It felt good to tease the hades out of her and know exactly how far she could push it.

Smiling, Gabrielle admitted, "But I really, really was. Gods. It was even worse later, once I figured out again that I wanted you but didn't remember I could have you. Drove me crazy." They chuckled lightly and fell silent, and Gabrielle put her hands on either side of Xena's face. An absorbed expression took over her features, and Xena just watched the minute twitch of muscles around her eyes and felt the thumbs that caressed her cheeks.

She eventually cocked an eyebrow. "Are you counting my wrinkles?"

After audibly expelling air from her nose, Gabrielle responded quietly, "No, I'm looking at how you look at me. But, honey, every wrinkle is just a sign of how long I've been lucky enough to love you."

A swell of emotion closed Xena's throat, and it was a moment before she could utter, "My poet." She cupped Gabrielle's cheek and really looked at her, noting the maturity and love that her younger spirit didn't quite manage even with the same face.

Gabrielle said, "Yours and yours and yours, body, heart, and soul."

With a crooked smile, Xena responded, "Back at you."

"Well…" Gabrielle's smile widened to a grin, and she took on a teasing tone. "Then you could have slept with younger me sooner."

Xena's dreamy smile faded, and she grunted. "I don't think so." She glanced away briefly.

"Why not? It's not cheating on me if it's me. And you know I wasn't some inexperienced kid. I was engaged when we met, remember, and I was only dodging marriage still because Perdicus wasn't established enough - and my father wanted to keep me working on the farm." A missing chunk of Xena's history with Herodotus slid into place in her mind. No wonder he was extra slow to warm up to her back then; she had made off with his farmhand. "And anyway, I was pretty clear about what I wanted."

Faced with her lover's gentle regard but relentless argument, Xena reluctantly admitted, "Our first time, the one we both remembered before all this, was... special to me. I didn't want to undo it, once I realized you didn't just have amnesia."

Guilt flooded Gabrielle's face. "Oh… uh, I'm-"

"Not the same, Gabrielle. Don't worry," Xena cut her off. "The younger me had been around the agora a few times. You weren't a virgin when we got together, but you were still so... and the way you trusted me, it meant a lot is all."

Gabrielle took on that look she got when she wanted to gush out loud but didn't want to embarrass Xena - a bitten lip, twitches of a smile, and expressive brows.

Xena cleared her throat. "Anyway, I forgot, and I would've gotten over it if I didn't. I probably slept like a rock for a week after the things you did to me." She pinched Gabrielle's side and endured some poking in return.

The tickling ebbed into a comfortable silence, and Xena said with almost pathetic relief, "Young you was cute, but gods I missed you." A wryly affectionate look told her Gabrielle understood. Xena relied on her constantly. Not every wild plan of theirs worked out perfectly, but she wouldn't want to fail at anyone else's side. They were a team.

"I missed you, too. I missed your trust." Gabrielle gave her a sad smile. "I wish you could have gone and seen Argo instead of me. I fed her an apple for you."

Xena sighed a little, remembering how she had cried over that horse, even knowing she had a long, comfortable life with Joxer. "And I'm sorry you couldn't go see… anyone. It had to hurt."

Gabrielle didn't answer right away, but then she nodded oddly, as if acknowledging the pain as it ran down her neck. "Thanks... I'm not even sure what I would have said to anyone, that close to me running away from home." They snuggled closer for a while, Xena running her hands in long, mutually comforting caresses down Gabrielle's head and back as Gabrielle scratched and rubbed hers.

Eventually, Gabrielle leaned away to look Xena in the face again. "But you know what? Because of this, I got to fall in love with you all over again. That's pretty amazing."

Xena smiled. "It's mutual. I didn't stand a chance once my little bard turned into a world-wise seductress."

Pride, then mischief stole over Gabrielle's features. "How do you think I felt? I went to bed across from a growly bear," she employed a gravelly tone on the nickname, along with a friendly head scratch, "and woke up on top of a snuggle-bunny." She pet Xena's mussed hair flat. "I was doomed." Her nose wrinkled in delight at Xena's only-half-mock outrage.

"...Snuggle-bunny?" Xena's tone would have made a wise man freeze, had in fact made many warriors cower.

Gabrielle just looked at her evenly, smirking. "Aww, I'm sorry. I meant snuggle-bear."

Xena turned her head and bit the wrist of the hand still atop it. At her play-growl, her wife fell into laughter and leaned her forehead on Xena's temple until it passed.

"I love you," she breathed against Xena's cheek.

Xena let the joy of being cozy and ridiculous with her spouse fill her chest until it felt fit to burst. "I love you, too."

"And hey, it turns out that all along, you were my first - body and mind. Separately. Neat, huh?"

A blue eye twitched in a very perturbed face as Xena pulled back to look at her. "Gabrielle... you know I didn't mean... I always thought it was creepy, lusting over the idea of someone not having a point of comparison for your performance in bed."

Gabrielle chuckled over her uncomfortable protestations. "I know, but it makes me happy to have the memory of it. You took such good care of me." She stroked the side of her face, which yielded a gentle smile and twinkling eyes.

"And because you forgot, you still got to play around before settling for a creaky old warlord."

"Oh you don't get to tease me for playing around," Gabrielle play-growled while sneaking a tickle to make Xena squirm under her. "And you're not even creaky now, much less then. If I didn't sleep on top of you half the time, I'd be more sore than you are most mornings."

"Whatever you say," Xena agreed easily, opting to kiss her rather than argue. They made out a little, slow and confident. Xena trailed her palm along a lazy path to the swell of Gabrielle's backside, which she gave a playful squeeze, and her lips moved onto choice sections of jaw and neck, leaving Gabrielle's to hum appreciatively.

"You know what I want?" asked Gabrielle.

Sounding slightly suggestive, Xena said, "Yeees?"

"To do yoga."

Xena lifted her head from her ministrations to let out an inelegant, "Eh?"

"I missed this body, and I want to commune with it."

Xena grunted agreement as she dropped her forehead on Gabrielle's shoulder. "...Well, you did earn it. The body and the yoga."

"Yep. I want to do my morning yoga while you catch us a fish. You can do your exercises while I make us a nice breakfast. And then… Then I want to swim." She smiled at Xena's good-natured sigh of stymied anticipation.

"And after all that," she caught Xena's eye with a coquettish look, "will you take me to bed and not hold back?"

Xena grinned and gave an appropriate pinch. "Now that's a plan I can get behind."

END


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